With Friends Like These III: Here and Now
by DarkElements10
Summary: -Sequel to DSB, 3rd in WFLT trilogy- BTR and the DarkElements are going on tour across the US and Australia. BTR helped the DarkElements with their problems, and now it's time for them to return the favor with the pressures and chaos of going on tour...
1. Big Time Preparation

**With Friends Like These III: Here and Now**

**By: Riley**

**.:Chapter One – Big Time Preparation:.**

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* * *

**"NO! NO! NO!" Gustavo Rocque shouted as he clapped his hands together and turned off the music that was pouring out of a boom-box with a violent kick of his feet. Kendall Knight, James Diamond, Carlos Garcia, and Logan Mitchell, also known as Big Time Rush, winced at their music producer's yell, immediately screeching to a halt. "You're supposed to jump, clap, turn, kick, and spin." He did the moves as he called them out before waving his arms in the air. "Not…whatever idiotic moves you were doing."

"Gustavo give them a break," Kelly Wainright chided from where she was sitting in the corner of the room. "You got them up at seven o'clock this morning and they don't go on until eight o'clock tonight." She looked at her watch. "And it's been five hours," she gestured over to the boys, who were sitting on the ground, leaning against each other and breathing heavily. "They've been working really hard these past couple of days; let them rest the remainder of the day before they get too tired to perform tonight." She raised an eyebrow. "Give them a break, let them eat brunch"

"But Kelly, I need to make sure that their first night on a tour as big as this goes PERFECTLY!" Gustavo replied. "Need I remind you what happened to Boy Quake on the first night they went on a big tour?"

Kelly winced at the thought of the boys having fallen offstage, nobody caught them, and had suffered from broken bones. "That _was_ pretty bad," she agreed and then turned a steely gaze towards Gustavo again. "Give these guys a break, _now_!" she turned and started to leave the dance studio. "Or you won't get any more of those sugar powdered doughnuts you like."

"Fine," Gustavo grumbled, hanging his head as he followed her out of the room, pouting like a little kid.

"Finally," James sighed as he lay down on the floor, resting his head on his arms. "If I knew that fame would come at _this_ price, I would have settled to be an actor and a model that sang on the side."

His friends were too tired to call him out on it. They were all getting ready for their first night on tour to open up for their friends the Jacksons, aka the famous Australian band, the DarkElements.

The DarkElements are a family band that consists of five kids, three boys and two girls, Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney Jackson. Big Time Rush met them after their managers Gustavo and the Jacksons' adoptive father, Robert, said that the two bands couldn't be friends and that they were going to be Rivals. Big Time Rush and the DarkElements didn't want that, but their managers did, Robert even went as far as to steal the song _Big Time Rush_ and pass it off as the DarkElements' song.

Once Big Time Rush found out they were mad at the DarkElements until they helped Big Time Rush get proof that they didn't know that it was stolen and that it was their dad's idea. After that, the two bands became friends and Riley, Rhuben, and Logan remembered that they used to know each other when they were much younger and became best friends again. At this time the Jacksons were being abused by Robert and Big Time Rush helped them get rid of him. After that, their friendship grew as they worked on music, hung out at the Palm Woods, and got to know each other. The DarkElements had gone on a 3 month tour, but they went on the tour back in their hometown of Sydney, Australia as Big Time Rush's tour was around the US.

After both bands got back from their tours, Big Time Rush noticed that they had gone back to the way that they had acted when they first met each other; cold and distant. After a while Big Time Rush and their friends, Jo, Camille, and Stephanie, along with Kendall's sister Katie, found out that their father's trial was coming up soon and they were all suffering from post traumatic stress disorder that caused them to see their father everywhere. During the trial Robert was found guilty and was sent to jail, Ronan McGuire, the DarkElements' music producer decided to adopt them, and he and their older brother Julius are now their co-managers. (Julius had decided to take college classes online so he could help his brothers and sisters live their dream.) Now after months of things going well, the DarkElements are going on tour across the US and their home country of Australia with Big Time Rush as their opening act.

Tonight is the first performance of the tour and Gustavo was nervous, so nervous that he was running the guys into the ground, trying to make sure that everything would go perfectly. And all that resulted in was making the boys really tired and thus causing them to make a lot of mistakes.

"Am I dead?" Carlos asked in a daze, his eyes spinning. "'Cause I can't feel my arms." He rubbed his right arm to prove his point.

"You can't feel them because that's _my _arm," Logan replied and pulled his arm out of his friend's grasp. "Everything hurts."

"But it's worth it," Kendall replied, always having to look on the Brightside of things. "We're on tour with our friends and we're going to have a lot of fans, and we're doing what we want to do." He tried to sit up, but then cried out in pain and lied back down. "The only thing I _can't_ do that I _want _to do is stand up without hurting."

"According to my calculations we're going to get used to the pain," Logan whipped out a pretend calculator and started to punch numbers into the air. "When we die."

"We're going to die?" Carlos' eyes grew wide.

"No, Carlos, we're not going to die." James replied and blindly patted what he thought was Carlos' head, but was in fact slapping Kendall's face. Kendall made a noise of pain and shoved James' hand away. After a few more seconds of silence, they boys jumped when Gustavo burst back into the room, slamming the door against the opposite wall, eagerly digging his hand into a box of powdered doughnuts.

"Alright," he called as he took out one and inspected it before looking at the boys again. "Who's ready to start again?"

"We're going to die." Kendall stated, not seeming to be bothered by the idea at all. "And I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to my mom and my sister."

"I didn't get a chance to win the Nobel Peace Prize." Logan sighed wistfully, shaking his head.

"I didn't get a chance to become a famous actor/singer/dancer/model and write my own memoir to teach little kids how to be as awesome as me." James added as his lower lip trembled. He noticed the silence and then turned his head to look at his friends and Gustavo, who were staring back at him. "What? It could happen!"

* * *

Back at the hotel, and enjoying the fact that they were having time to rest, The DarkElements, aka the Jacksons, were eating breakfast with their friends, talking about their performance that night. They had traveled from LA to San Diego on a big tour bus and had spent two days there to 1) see the sights and 2) rehears as much as they could. Now as Gustavo was making the guys rehearse and rehearse and rehearse the Jacksons were being lazy, and happy that they weren't being driven into the ground.

"I can't believe that your guys' first show of the tour is tonight!" Jo Tarver cried as she spooned a pile of hash browns onto her plate. She moved a place over and made a face when she saw the scrambled eggs. "Ugh, why do these look so funny?" she questioned.

"Its hotel food," Sydney Jackson pointed out as he rubbed his eyes. "They always make it plain just so you can put whatever you want on it and not worry about whether or not people will like it." He explained and moved around her so he could get some cereal. "It's a tactic that they think will work, but it just causes people to dump lots of salt on it and clog up their arteries."

"That's good to know," Jo replied with a little laugh as she finished filling up her plate and then went over to the table that her friends were sitting at. "You guys excited?" she asked as she sat down. Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, and Noah gave her odd looks that told her that asking the question was stupid. "Never mind."

"Of course we're excited," Patrick grinned as he stabbed a piece of bacon with his fork. "I mean, we're on tour which is something that we love to do," he looked at his friends with a peaceful smile on his face. "And we're with you guys."

The 'you guys' that he's talking about is Jo Tarver, Camille Sanders, Stephanie King, Kendall's little sister Katie, and Camille's boyfriend Wally Dooley, who everyone but Camille calls WayneWayne. At first they weren't able to go on tour with the Jacksons and Big Time Rush and that made them really upset, but after a bit, Ronan called all of their parents and asked that as long as he and the other adults were watching them and that they did some school work if they were allowed to go on tour with their friends. After a while of deliberation, they agreed, so now they're on tour with their friends, riding in rented cars across the US, while in Australia they would probably be on the tour buys with the guys.

Jo and Camille are actresses, Stephanie is a filmmaker in training, and WayneWayne…well, no one really knows what he's doing while he's staying at the Palm Woods, and all he's been doing so far is just following Camille to her auditions to give her support. But he had become a good friend of everyone, besides the fact that he had once tried to kick Kendall out of Big Time Rush.

"I still can't believe that your parents agreed to let you guys come with us," Rhuben stated as she inspected her sandwich before closing it and taking a bite. "I figured that your parents would make you stay to make sure you're actually earning your living at the Palm Woods."

"That's the reason that my mom and dad let me go, actually." Jo replied as she brushed her blonde hair behind her ears. "After Ronan called, I explained how while I'm going around with you guys Stephanie could help me tape some auditions to send to people."

"And they agreed just like that?" Riley looked skeptical, her blue eyes narrowing. "I don't think-"

"Well, they also knew that I couldn't stay away from James for that long so," Jo trailed off with an embarrassed smile as she thought of her boyfriend. She shrugged, her cheeks turning back to their normal color. "It didn't take long for them to agree."

"Hey guys," Julius, the Jacksons' older brother, greeted as he walked up to everyone, an excited smile on his face. "How's the food?" he questioned and leaned over, taking the sandwich that Rhuben was eating from her hands and took a bite. "Blegh, too much cheese." He sputtered and gave it back.

"Well its _mine_ and that's why there's so much cheese on it." Rhuben replied as she stuck out her tongue at her older brother. She smiled as he laughed. "What's up? Have you eaten yet?"

"Yeah," Julius nodded and pointed over his shoulder. "Ronan, Brittany, and I have been up for a while, making sure that everything down at the House of Blues was ok." He replied.

Ronan is his and his brothers and sisters' adoptive father and co-manager and music producer as Julius works with him. Brittany is his fiancée, whom he had proposed to a few months ago and was now working as the two men's assistant. The House of Blues was where they were going to be playing that night, the next night they were going to be playing at Cox Arena.

"Where's my mom?" Katie questioned as she turned away from her taco salad.

"She's at the spa," Julius replied, turning to her. "My dad treated her to a day of relaxation, because we all know that she's not going to get much of it when this tour officially starts tonight."

"Good point." Katie agreed.

Julius then turned to his siblings. "Ronan sent me down to tell you guys that in the next hour or so you need to go down to the House of Blues to look at the light set up for you guys and then go and check out your wardrobe for the show, and then go back and relax before doing a meet and greet to VIP fans before the show." Julius counted off a list that he had pulled out of his pocket. He squinted as he looked at the list, making sure that was everything.

"Where in all of this do we get our hair and makeup done?" Noah questioned as he brushed his long, shaggy hair out of his face, holding it up off of his forehead so he could see his brother clearly.

"Whenever you find time," Katie replied as she took the sheet of paper from Julius and looked it over. "You guys are booked for, like, the rest of the day." She made a face as she looked the list up and down and then turned to Noah. "Is the whole tour going to be like this?"

"Not really," Noah shrugged in reply as he leaned back in his chair. "There are times where its worse, but there are times where we're so far ahead of schedule that we get the whole day off." He smirked. "But don't worry; I'll spare some time to spend with you."

"Please," Katie rolled her eyes at him and stuck out her tongue. "That's _not_ what I was thinking about." She replied haughtily, causing Noah to grin, to which she returned with a smile of her own.

"Ah, young love." WayneWayne stated sarcastically. "Too bad it can't stay the way it was with everyone thinking that each other gender had cooties." He paused and looked panic-stricken and then turned to Camille, who was looking at him with narrowed eyes. "Because it was cute," he continued to try and save himself. "And you pretended to be secret admirer's for Valentine's Day." He frowned as he continued to think. "I'll buy you whatever you want the next time we go to the mall." He said finally, causing Camille to smile.

"Gold digger," Sydney pretended to cough and then widened his eyes when everybody turned to look at him. "What?" he pointed over to Riley and Rhuben. "They said it first."

"Did not!" the two replied quickly, obviously not wanting to face the wrath of their slightly psychotic and territorial friend.

"We didn't say it at all." Riley shook her head.

"Never." Rhuben agreed.

"Nope."

"Ha," WayneWayne snorted. "I barely have any money as it is; I just use my mom's and dad's credit cards."

"Who doesn't these days?" Stephanie questioned as she raised her eyebrows. She then took the sheet of paper and looked at the list herself, frowning. "Do you guys really have to go do all of this? I wanted to go and get our outfits for the show tonight."

"Just the common schedule that you have to go to when you're famous," Riley sighed as she brushed her hair out of her face, looking at her plate filled with fries and a side of a salad. She looked thoughtful. "I wonder if I can wrap all of this up and just bring it with me."

"It hasn't stopped you before," Patrick pointed out as he started to scarf down what was left on his plate. He continued with a full mouth. "I mean, you steal food from practically every restaurant we go to."

"It's not _stealing_," Riley commented as she got up from her chair, stalling for time as she tried to think of a good excuse. "It's…taking the food without asking for a takeout box."

"Remind me to keep a careful eye on her the next time we go out to eat." Julius stage-whispered into Rhuben's ear, causing her to laugh and causing Riley to plant her hands on her hips and glare at her brother, who wasn't intimated in the slightest.

"I _heard_ that!" she growled.

"I know," Julius smirked and flicked her nose. "I said it out loud." He grabbed onto her shoulders and pushed her in front of him. "C'mon we don't want to be late."

"God forbid," Patrick muttered under his breath, cheeks bulging with food as he grabbed one last French fry and followed his brothers and sisters.

"Oh," Noah stopped and pulled a handful of VIP passes out of his pocket, counted them, and then set them on the table. "Here are passes for tonight's show. You can get backstage with them…and an autograph if you want, but I doubt you'd need that."

"Not unless you want to make money off of it," Jo replied, pointedly looking at Katie, who had an evil smile on her face. Katie noticed everyone staring at her and she blinked as she forced her frown to go away and a calm expression replaced it.

"I wasn't thinking about that at all," she denied calmly, looking at her fingernails.

"Right," Noah looked like he didn't believe her but shook his head anyway. "Bye guys, see you later."

"Bye," Katie, Jo, Stephanie, Camille, and WayneWayne called back as they waved to their friends. WayneWayne slowly turned to look back at the girls.

"So, I'm assuming that I'm going to be stuck carrying all of your bags today," he stated slowly and then made a face at the thought. "Right?"

"Exactly," Camille replied and leapt to her feet, punching the air. "Let's go to the mall!" she called dramatically, attracting the attention of other hotel residents. "Major shopping excursion of October 2010 is a go!"

"You can't do anything without being a little overly dramatic can you?" Stephanie questioned.

"Pretty much"

* * *

**A/N: This would have been up sooner if I didn't go to Wal-Mart and the mall to get some food. :) I hope you guys enjoyed it. I wanted to show a little bit about them before I got to the point of the tour. The next chapter will be up soon.**

**-Riley**


	2. Big Time Last Minute

**.:Chapter Two – Big Time Last Minute:.**

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* * *

**"What do you guys think of those set of lights?" Brittany questioned as she leaned back in the seat that she was sitting in and looked over at the Jacksons, who were watching the light technicians go through a series of colored and flashing lights, miming what they would be standing under while they were doing their concert. "I think that the blinking effect is the best one, but that's just my opinion."

"Hmm," Sydney rubbed his chin as he kicked his legs back and forth. He smiled impishly as he leaned back in his seat and held his hands up so they made the shape of a square. "I see what you're talking about," he lowered his hands as he nodded thoughtfully. "But personally, I think it would be better if our stage was filled with a deep blue light."

"No!" Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, and Noah replied in unison, not even bothering to look over at their brother. Brittany laughed along with Julius, and his adoptive father, Ronan. The Jacksons, sometime after the trial had changed their last names to McGuire-Jackson, but still refer to themselves as 'Jackson' as it's easier to say. (But legally they are now the McGuire-Jacksons.)

"You can't blame a guy for trying." Sydney stated as he shrugged.

"Besides," Patrick smiled to himself. "If there were any color that we would have bathe the stage it would be yellow." He spread his arms out. "I mean, think of it, because of the fact that it just generally makes people happier-"

"And would blind everyone if they weren't careful." Riley interrupted with a half smile. It was obvious that all five of them were thinking of just putting their favorite color as the main color of the show. But it was also obvious that they were all joking about it. "I think that the kind of strobing lights that mix in with the variety of colors is the best one," she stated after a second.

"That's what I was thinking," Ronan agreed as he moved his hand away from his chin, relaxing. He then turned to his kids. "I also think that it should be darker tones to the colors though, you know, to go along with your sound and everything."

"Good point," Rhuben agreed and led her siblings out of their seats as they headed across the massive standing area towards the stage. "Unfortunately, I didn't anticipate how big this stage was, so every dance move that we do its going to be moved slightly to the left." She added with a small frown as she surveyed the stage.

"When we're dancing you mean?" Noah asked to clarify. "'Cause if it's the times when we're playing out instruments we can just spread out a little more." He opened his arms so far that he accidentally hit Riley and Patrick in the face. "Oops, sorry." He smiled sheepishly.

"It's alright," Riley sighed as she lightly rubbed her cheek. "I needed that; I was starting to get a little worked up over the idea of the first show being so close."

"It is?" Patrick looked alarmed as he looked at his watch. "Oh my god, it is!"

"What are you getting so panicked for?" Brittany asked with a laugh as she brushed her hair off of her forehead, handing Julius her clipboard, which was filled with notes on the lighting and set design. "You've done many concerts before."

"They always get panicked like this the first night," Julius explained with a chuckle.

"Yeah, then after that they're so cocky their heads swell." Ronan agreed and the three of them laughed. "Ok, only thing you guys have left to do is look at your wardrobe choices and that's it."

"C'mon, let's go!" Sydney started to run ahead of his brothers and sisters. "Race ya!"

* * *

"Finally, we can rest!" Logan cried as he dropped down onto the chair in the hotel room. He laughed as Carlos fell over onto the bed and fell asleep instantly. "I think Gustavo is getting a little too power crazy." He stretched his legs carefully before sliding down in his chair.

"When did you figure that out?" Kendall asked dryly as he slowly lowered himself onto the other bed. "Before or after he started laughing like a maniac?" he dropped his head against his pillow and made an audible sound of relaxation and happiness before curling up into a ball. "Ahh, a soft bed."

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm pumped and ready to go." James stated as he walked out from the bathroom, beaming. "I feel great, I'm really excited and-"

"Did you get into the sugar again?" Logan interrupted. "You know what we said last time about doing that."

"No," James lightly hit Logan on the back of his head as he walked by him. "You know that I stay away from sugar, it causes pimples to grow." Logan rolled his eyes and continued to pay attention to what James was saying. "All of our friends are going to be there, it's the first time that we're opening for a band, and we're going to get more and more fans this way." His smile grew wider if it was possible. "_And_ the meet and greet that we have scheduled before the show will help us keep our fans because we're actually taking the time to get to know some of them before our show."

"That's kind of the point of meet and greets, dude." Kendall pointed out with a little laugh.

"But still the idea of it is making me really happy." James couldn't mask his happiness at all and that just let Kendall and Logan know that he wasn't faking it.

"Are you sure it's not because of the fact that Jo is picking out some dress to wear to the concert?" Logan asked with a sly smile.

"That too," James agreed and then looked over at Carlos, whose stomach growled loud enough to wake him up.

"I'm hungry," Carlos announced as he rubbed his eyes and then ran his fingers through his hair. His eyes flew open, letting the boys know that he wasn't going to be going back to sleep anytime soon. "Hey, let's order room service."

"Are you sure we're allowed to do that?" Logan asked as Carlos dove towards the phone and Kendall went to get the menu to pick out what they wanted. "I mean, we're not even the ones that are going to be paying for it."

"Gustavo will, and that's the point." Carlos replied with a slow nod, his finger hovering over the phone buttons.

"Well, he _does_ owe us for having pushed us so hard for the past couple of days." Logan stated as he slowly started to waffle. James, Kendall, and Carlos started to smile, knowing that he was going to follow whatever they did, like he usually did. "And we _have _been working really hard."

"They have meatloaf." Kendall stated as he held the menu out to Logan and started to swing it back and forth. "Your favorite…along with mashed potatoes."

"Really?" Logan grabbed the menu and started to look over it himself. "Yum that sounds good!" he flushed a little as he looked away from the menu and shoved it into Kendall's chest. "Ok, maybe one or two things, we don't want to overcharge him."

"Yes!" James and Kendall cheered as Carlos pushed the room service button on the phone and put the phone to his ear, smiling eagerly. They're guys, they get excited over food and girls and pretty much anything else that you can think of. Go figure.

"Room Service?" Carlos asked as soon as someone had picked up the phone. "Yes, I would like three hamburgers and three servings of fries," he looked over at Logan and raised an eyebrow. "And a serving and your meatloaf and mashed potatoes, and I'd also like some salad, green beans, and a bottle of your largest soda, please?" he ended as sweetly as possible. "Thank you." He hung up the phone and rubbed his hands together eagerly as he licked his lips. "Finally, some good food to eat."

"Carlos, you're acting like you haven't eaten for the past two days." Kendall laughed as he grabbed the remote to turn on the TV.

"Nothing that great, I can assure you." Carlos replied and grabbed his laptop from under the bed and booted it up. As Kendall, Logan, and James started to watch a hockey game, Carlos checked his email and started to look at the website that Gustavo had put up form them, looking at the forum and the comments that people were putting for their tour dates.

He was smiling so big his cheeks were starting to hurt. He was happy that things were going so great for all of them, what with the fans that they now had and being able to do what he loved, while being able to play hockey in their downtime in alleyways, in the streets, or at the local ice rinks. Plus his girlfriend was going on the tour with him and he could spend as much time with her as he wanted, or just hang out with the guys, it was a win-win situation for all of them and he knew that they all felt the same way that he was feeling. That with all of them around, nothing was impossible. (Ok, so he stole that from Kendall, but that's beside the point.)

Carlos continued to search the website before he went to the forum to see what people were saying about their songs and about the band in general. He saw the topic of what song was people's favorite and so far the songs 'Oh Yeah' and 'Boyfriend' were some of the top ones with 'The City Is Ours', 'This Is Our Someday' and 'Big Time Rush' right behind it. Looking through other threads he found out that a lot of people liked the way that they had incorporated their fans into their live performances. It was then that Carlos had found the 'Your Big Time Rush Guy' thread and was curious enough to go into it. His eyes narrowed as he started to scan the original message.

_Do you love Big Time Rush? Of course you do, but who is your favorite guy. Mine is James because he's so sweet and really hot._

That was the original message and then other people had commented on the topic: Carlos, Kendall, James, Logan, Logan, Kendall, Logan, James, Carlos, Kendall, James, James, Kendall…The list went on and on. But what Carlos noticed was that his three friends were being named a lot more than he was.

That didn't surprise him really, as Logan was the smart and sensitive guy that almost every girl would want to tutor in math or science, Kendall was the fun loving, head strong guy that you would have fun doing anything with, and James was the hot guy that any girl would love to stare at for hours on end. (James loves to stare at himself for hours on end as well and Carlos often wondered how Jo could stand it.)

'_This list isn't that surprising at all_,' Carlos thought to himself, although he felt a small stab of pain in his heart. '_I mean, the other guys are calmer and cooler than I am. I'm just a guy that wears a helmet for now reason and is so crazy that the hospital staff back in Minnesota knows me by name and aren't surprised whenever I go into the examination room._'

"Carlos? Is something wrong?" Logan asked when he looked over at his friend and noticed that he was staring hard at the computer screen, looking a little bit upset.

"What?" Carlos lifted his head, looking a little startled and then flushed when he noticed that Kendal land James had then turned and looked at him; all three of them were wearing expressions of concern, as Carlos wasn't bouncing off the walls in anticipation. "Oh," he quickly closed the laptop to put it into hibernation and slid it back under his bed. "Yeah, I'm fine." He gave a weak smile. "I'm just really, _really_ hungry aren't you guys?"

"Yeah, sure." Logan replied and turned back to the hockey game. He wasn't stupid; he could tell from the look on Carlos' face that something was bothering him. But he also knew that Carlos could have a temper sometimes and that if he didn't want to talk about something, you shouldn't force him into doing it.

Carlos crawled to the end of his bed and flopped down onto his stomach and started to watch the game with his friends. He cheered up a lot and was even screaming and jumping up and down with his friends as the Minnesota Wild played against the Philadelphia Flyers. But while the game was being played, he still had the thought of the forums thread at the back of his mind, as if it was nagging him constantly, wanting to remind him of what he had found out.

Finally, there was a knock on the door and Kendall leapt off of the bed to go get it. "It must be room service," he stated as he grabbed the door knob and twisted it hard to open it. "Finally, I mean it took them twenty-aaaaaahhhh!"

Kendall screamed and jumped backwards as the face of a werewolf suddenly appeared in front of his face, growling menacingly. Jo, Camille, Katie, and Stephanie laughed as they squeezed by WayneWayne and moved into the room. WayneWayne laughed as he pulled the wolf mask off of his head and stuck a hand out to haul Kendall back to his feet.

"That wasn't funny." Kendall stated as he brushed off his clothes. "I wasn't scared," he added after a second. "I knew that it was you the whole time." He added, trying to hide the fact that he was completely scared for a second.

"Right, I'm sure you did." WayneWayne replied sardonically as he shook his head and tossed the mask aside. "The girls were out buying clothes for the concert and I found all this really cool stuff at Spencer's." he grinned as he addressed everyone on the room. "You guys have to go, there's a _lot_ of stuff that we can get done for Halloween."

"What are you going to be?" Katie asked as she carelessly tossed her bag to the ground.

"An Eminem knock-off," WayneWayne replied as if it was obvious.

"Oh, so you're going to be yourself." Kendall replied and the two smirked at each other. The two of them always traded insults back and forth that the two of them knew that each other didn't mean. They couldn't just forget everything that had happened and just start being friends for the fun of it.

"Exactly." WayneWayne replied sardonically. "What about the rest of you guys?"

"I'm not sure yet," Stephanie replied as she pulled her hair over her ear and dropped her shopping bags to the ground. "But whatever it is, it'll be hot." She frowned and looked over at Carlos when she realized that Carlos didn't mention anything about her being hot. The others went right on talking and she walked over to her boyfriend and gently draped an arm across his shoulders as she sat on his lap. "What's wrong, Carlos?" she asked, looking at him in concern.

"Nothing really," Carlos muttered in reply as he continued to look at the TV, but not really watching it. Stephanie noticed and sighed heavily before standing up and taking his hand in hers, squeezing it gently, as she pulled him into the other bedroom of the suite that the boys, Katie, and Mrs. Knight were sharing. "Steph," he sounded annoyed, but didn't do anything about it.

"Carlos, what's wrong?" Stephanie asked as she sat down on a bed and gently patted the spot next to her, which Carlos took, plopping down on it heavily. "I've never seen you have a lower lip when you pout." Carlos just scratched the back of his neck and didn't reply. "Do I have to beat anyone up?" she gave a half smile when Carlos chuckled. "At least I made you laugh." She stated softly.

"You sounded exactly like Riley and Rhuben." He commented.

"That was the idea," Stephanie replied and rubbed his arm. "What's wrong?"

"It's stupid, really." Carlos replied as he rubbed his hands over his face. "It's really stupid. "Stephanie stayed silent and waited for him to continue. "I was on the website," he explained, looking at his feet. "The one that Gustavo made for us," he explained, just trying to stall time. "And I was under the forum, just looking around and this one section was asking who the favorite guy way." He messed with his fingers. "And I don't know, I was kind of annoyed that there seemed to be more people that liked the other guys than me and-"

"Carlos," Stephanie interrupted and grabbed his hands in hers. "Who cares what some fans think, they like you guys as a whole and they love your music." She tilted her head so she could catch his gaze and when she did she smiled gently. "What should only matter is what _I _think of you, you goofball," she lightly shoved his shoulder. "Better?" she asked when she saw Carlos' smile, brushing his hair off of his forehead.

"Yeah," Carlos genuinely smiled and lifted his head to full look at his girlfriend. "That helped a lot, thanks Steph."

"I love you, you know." Stephanie said after a second, much to Carlos' surprise. The two of them knew that they loved each other, but they never said it before. And now she was the first one to say it, and it was surprising…yet nice at the same time. Stephanie looked a little scared as she looked at Carlos, waiting for him to say something.

"I love you, too." He smiled as Stephanie beamed, her cheeks turning red with happiness. He leaned forward and kissed her sweetly, gently holding onto her cheeks as he did so. He grinned as he pulled away, pressing his head against hers. "So what is it that you love about me?"

"Your sense of humor," Stephanie replied and took his helmet off of his head and put it on her own. "Your sense of style, your cute smile." She smiled and lightly kissed him again before moving back, looking serious. "Add in the fact that I think that you're ten times better looking than the other guys adds into it too."

"That's good to know," Carlos replied seriously. "Because I think you're better looking than all of the other girls," he looked over Stephanie's shoulder cautiously. "Just make sure that none of them hear that because we all know that they would kill me."

"That's true." Stephanie smiled back and gave him a hug, throwing her arms around her neck. Carlos smiled as he hugged her back.

"Hey guys," Jo stuck her head in the room, pointing a thumb over her shoulder. "Room Service got here, and I think that you should hurry and get a bite before WayneWayne gets a hold of hit." She smiled. "According to Camille he has a high metabolism."

"No one better touch my hamburger!" He shouted and flew off the couch and towards the other room, where Jo and Stephanie could hear a scream, a thud, and then Logan's yell of 'get off, that's _my_ meatloaf.'

Stephanie laughed as she got off the bed and walked over to her friend, who raised an eyebrow in silent question. Stephanie just smiled in reply and gave a small wink. "I'll explain it later," she stated and Jo smiled and nodded in reply before going to the main area of the suite, where she noticed that Mrs. Knight and Katie had gotten back from wherever they were.

"You guys are just going to throw all of that back up from how much you're going to be dancing onstage." Katie pointed out as she wrinkled her nose at the thought.

"You're just saying that because you want some of my hamburger." Kendall replied, not falling for his sister's trick in the slightest. "No, you can't have it." He added when Katie looked hopeful. "It's _my_ hamburger; you should have been here when we were ordering room service." He stuck his tongue out. "But _no_ you were out buying _purses_."

"Fine," Katie crossed her arms over her chest and stuck her nose in the air. "I'll just get some food at the concert," she grabbed a pillow off of the couch that she and her mom were sitting on. "And not watch _you_." She threw it at her brother, who ducked out of the way, laughing.

"Knock it off you two," Mrs. Knight stated, although she was smiling a little bit at her son and daughter. "At least fight when you get back from the concert, so you fall asleep shortly afterwards."

"I can't believe that its opening night already," Jo commented as she looked around the room. "Hopefully the other hotel that we stay at will be better than this." She added and then widened her eyes. "Not to be ungrateful,"

"Babe," James interrupted. "Just stick to acting and singing," he stuck a fry into her mouth to get her to be quiet. "Every time you try and get yourself out of a jam, you just keep rambling and making things worse." He smiled when Jo looked crestfallen, pouting a little. "Don't worry, I like you anyway."

"Haha," Jo rolled her eyes and lightly hit him on the arm, she then looked at her watch. "Are the Jacksons still working?"

"Looking at their schedule they should be looking at their wardrobes…" Mrs. Knight replied as she pulled a sheet of paper out of her purse. She frowned and then her eyes widened when she saw another sheet of paper. "Which is what you guys should be doing now!" she added.

"What time is it?" Logan screeched, matching her sudden alarm. Everybody turned to look at him and he started to bounce his knees up and down, jiggling the plate that was resting on them. "No, seriously, what time is it?"

"It's 5:45-"Camille started to say, but Logan cut her off.

"And the meet and greet is at 6:30 and we still haven't gone over our wardrobe or gotten make up done!" He stood up, the sudden movement flinging his plate across the room. "We're late!" Kendall scoffed as he continued to eat his dinner.

"We're not late, we're-"

"LATE!" Gustavo shouted as he and Kelly barged into the room. "You, you, you, and you," he pointed to Kendall, James, Logan, and Carlos. "YOU'RE ALL LATE! COME ON!" Kelly and Gustavo grabbed the four boys by their shirt fronts and dragged them out of the room.

"We better get going too," Mrs. Knight grabbed her purse and pulled it over her shoulder quickly, as she got to her feet. "Otherwise we may get locked out of the venue."

"Has that happened before?" WayneWayne asked as he got to his feet and hurriedly put his shoes on.

"It better not," Katie replied in a threatening tone. "Not after what happened last time." She added under her breath.

"What happened last time?" Jo asked as she and the girls hurried to grab the coats that they had tossed onto a chair and followed everyone else out of the room.

"Let's just say that the guy may need to have better reflexes when it comes to someone aiming a kick at them." Katie replied with a smirk. WayneWayne stopped and thought about it for a second and then shuddered when he understood what she meant.

* * *

"You, into makeup, now!" Gustavo barked as he shoved the boys into the makeup room. "I'll bring your wardrobe in so you can get that done at the same time!" He and Kelly left the room and he slammed the door for emphasis, causing the boys to wince.

"Running a little late?" Patrick questioned from where he was sitting, getting a brush of foundation moved across his cheeks. He didn't bother opening his eyes, just in case the movement caused the makeup artist to mess up.

"You could say that again," Logan muttered as he ran his fingers through his hair nervously.

"He doesn't mean it literally," Noah stated as he reached out and placed a hand over Patrick's mouth. His eyes were closed too, but he and Patrick had such a special bond that he could tell what Patrick was going to do without having to see him to do it. "What were you guys doing that caused you to get here late?" he asked in his soft voice.

"Yeah, you _do_ know that Gustavo is a huge stickler when it comes to being on time for something that he sets up, right?" Sydney added cheekily as he got his hair brushed.

"Well, Gustavo was the one that made us late," Kendall replied as he ran his fingers through his hair, plopping down onto the couch as he waited for the Jacksons to get done. "Then our cab driver got lost on the way back to the hotel, and we were just getting some dinner before we realized how late we were."

"Nice excuse, Hockey-Head," Riley replied, sounding sarcastic. "I'm sure that someone would believe it."

"Don't mind her," Rhuben added quickly. "She always acts like she has a stuck up her arse whenever we're about to have the opening night of a tour. After that you can't get her to shut up." She laughed as Riley reached out a hand and slapped her sister on the arm. "Kidding."

"I'm sure you were."

"Alright, you're done." One of the makeup stylists stated and she and her co-workers whipped the cape off of the Jacksons and they stood up and stretched, looking at their reflections before turning around to get the guys' reaction on it.

All they got was silence and dropped open mouths.

Sydney had his hair styled the usual way, messy, but the blue streaks that he had in his hair were longer, and his hair had grown a little bit so it rested on his eye lashes. His wardrobe for the tour had changed too, rather then there being a lot of blue incorporated into his outfit, he was wearing a blue bandana around his forehead, a black leather jacket, a black t-shirt with a blue stripe cross the chest, black shorts with blue pockets, and black and blue shoes.

Noah's hair was still long and swept to one side of his face in an emo cut, but it was trimmed just enough so that it wasn't too long or too short. He still had silver streaks in his hair and he was wearing a fedora on his hair. He was wearing a black leather jacket, a gray wife-beater, black pants, a black studded belt, and black and silver shoes. Like Patrick, he had eyeliner under his eyes.

Patrick's hair was still spiked, but he had a hat over his hair, backwards, so that some of his spikes poked out from the hole, the spikes were still dyed blonde. His wardrobe incorporated more black as he was wearing a black leather jacket, a yellow t-shirt, a black pants, black studded belt, and black and yellow shoes. He also had a bit of eyeliner on his bottom lids.

Rhuben's hair had grown a little bit so it was a short ways past her shoulder blades, but her purple strand still fell into her eyes. Her eyelids had a new kind of eye shadow so it was black, but it blended in with a purple color. She had eyeliner on her upper and lower lids and she was wearing a black leather jacket over a white button down shirt with a black tie, a black skirt with a purple edge, black leggings, and black and purple shoes.

Riley's hair was styled the same way as Rhuben's, also having grown a little bit and her strand of red hair fell into her eyes still. Her eye shadow was black mixed in with red and she was wearing a black leather jacket over a red tank-top midriff, just enough so that it showed her tattoo on her hip, black capris with a black studded belt with red splatters, and black and red shoes.

"Ronan wanted us to change our image a little bit so that it went with our CD," Rhuben explained as she brushed her hair over her shoulder. "We do that with every CD that we make, and personally I think I like this one the best."

"I think the jackets are cool." Kendall replied slowly as he raised an eyebrow. "But, I'm just curious…are you going to be wearing…all of that," he waved his arm up and down. "Out in public and stuff?"

"No," Noah shook his head and rested his hands on his hips. "It's only for appearances and photo shoots and concerts and stuff."

Patrick snorted. "'Cause there's no way that I would wear this stuff willingly," he added, motioning to the eyeliner that he was wearing.

"Good point." James replied, finally closing his mouth.

"Oh, it's time to go," Sydney stated as he looked at his watch and adjusted his headband, smiling so wide his dimples showed. That let the boys know that he was still the same old Sydney, just with a different appearance.

"But we haven't gotten makeup or wardrobe done yet." Carlos protested as he rubbed his arm where Gustavo had grabbed him. "And that's why Gustavo dragged us in here."

"They can get the wardrobe stuff done by themselves and you can hurry and rush the makeup after the meet and greet when you're doing warm-ups." Rhuben added. "We've had to do this sometimes when we're running late."

The boys hesitated.

"Ready to meet your fans?" Riley asked as she turned to the boys, raising an eyebrow.

Kendall, Logan, James, and Carlos looked at each other and swallowed nervously before nodding at her question. Rhuben gave a half smile and walked around them, her brothers and sister following her.

"Follow me."

* * *

**A/N: Next chapter has the first night of the tour; I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far; I wanted to make it more about the guys of BTR so I hope that you got that feeling in this chapter. This chapter starts off on the problems of fame that the boys have to deal with. I have a different idea for each guy, so I think it should be good.**

**So what do you think of the Jacksons' new look?**

**-Riley**


	3. Big Time Opening Night

**.:Chapter Three – Big Time Opening Night:.**

**A/N: This chapter is long because of all of the song lyrics that I have put into it. I recommend you listen to the songs at the same time they're being sang in the chapter. The part **_**These Walls**_** is from the story before, but they perform the same song in many concerts.**

**

* * *

**"Ok a couple of quick rules that you guys have before you go out to meet your fans," Kelly stated as she and Julius walked beside the two bands, who were on their way to a separate room of the arena to meet their fans. She scanned her clipboard before nodding. "You can't write anything profane."

"And that goes to you two," Julius added as he lightly flicked Riley and Rhuben on the forehead with his finger. Rhuben stuck out her tongue as Riley waved a hand in the air as if saying that it wasn't important. Julius scoffed and looked at Big Time Rush, who was laughing. "You should have seen what they put on this one kids' poster. They-"

"Hey!" Rhuben interrupted sharply. "It wasn't _our_ fault that that kid was whiny and wouldn't stop asking the same question." She elbowed her sister in the side. "And if she wasn't PMSing at the time, then everything would have been fine."

"Who says I was PMSing?" Riley replied with a grin.

"EWW!" Carlos cried and shoved his fingers in his ears so he wouldn't have to listen to them. "Lalalalalala, I can't _hear_ you!" he shouted, trying to make sure that he wouldn't be able to hear any girl talk.

"Carlos!" James grabbed onto his friends' arms and lowered them down to his sides. "They stopped." He rolled his eyes and brushed his hair out of his face and motioned for Kelly to continue. She shook her head, although she was used to the guys' antics but continued anyway.

"Rule number two," she cleared her throat as she looked at the clipboard again. "Try not to spend more than five minutes with one person because we're on a deadline and we don't want the concert to start late."

"And last but not least-"Julius started to say it but his brothers and sister cut him off, finishing the rule in a robotic tone.

"No signing intimate parts of a person's body," they said in unison and rolled their eyes, as if they had heard it a million times before.

"Don't look at us," Riley held her hands up defensively as Big Time Rush turned to look at her and Rhuben, who were usually the ones that caused things to have a rule put to it. "We're not _that_ weird." She gave a half smile and pointed her thumb over towards Patrick, Noah, and Sydney. "It was those three; they're just too cute for their own good."

"No one ever said that that was a bad thing," Patrick replied teasingly as he put his arm around Riley's shoulders.

"It is when things get too indecent," Julius interrupted with a short laugh. "Kelly and I have to check on everything else, but have a good meet and greet guys."

"Yeah and you four," Kelly turned a narrowed gaze towards the guys. "When your meet and greet is done, you need to hurry up back to the dressing room so we can go over the set list, work on your vocals, and get your makeup done." She turned and fully glared at Carlos, who gave a sheepish smile and a finger-wave. "Especially you, Carlos, we're on a tight deadline."

"Got it." Carlos replied with a series of quick nods. "Yep. Got it."

"Did you get into candy again?" Logan asked as he narrowed his eyes suspiciously. He planted his hands on his hips. "Let me see your hands." He pulled Carlos' hands out of his pockets and inspected them. "Hmm," he checked Carlos' hands carefully. "Nothing." He took a step back and tapped his chin before snapping his fingers. "Open your mouth." Carlos did so and an evil glint appeared in his eye as he took a deep breath and then blew it out forcefully, causing Logan's eyes to water.

"Yegh," Logan coughed as he fanned the air in front of his face, making faces to show how bad Carlos' breath actually smelled. "When was the last time you brushed your teeth?" He held his breath as he waited for an answer.

"I don't know," Carlos shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. "The last time I went to the dentist." Logan's eyes widened and Carlos looked back at him casually.

"That was _months_ ago!" Logan looked completely appalled. "Ugh," he pinched his nose shut with his fingers. "How can Stephanie stand to kiss you?"

"I don't know," Carlos repeated, but this time smiled impishly. "'Cause she can't resist me?" He smirked and rapidly raised and lowered his eyes to add emphasis to the statement that he had just said. James and Kendall laughed as Logan looked immensely annoyed.

"You-"

"Logan," Rhuben interrupted and wound her arm through his, smiling sweetly. (He should have been had red flags going up at that moment, as Rhuben, or any of the Jacksons for that matter, only smile sweetly when they're up to something.) "Have I ever told you that your worrying about things like this is hot?"

"No," Logan beamed as he turned from Carlos and wrapped his arms around her, smiling down at her. "Why?"

"Just making sure I didn't," she replied and patted his stomach, ducking out from under his arm at the same time. "Or I would have been crazy."

"Ooh, burn." Noah stated as he smirked ay Logan's embarrassment. "Don't worry about it now," he added seriously as he stretched his arms over his head. "You have a show to open for." His smirk came back when he saw how nervous Big Time Rush suddenly became. "Don't be worried, just put your mind into the meet and greet and then the show. One thing at a time," he started to clap for emphasis. "Put your minds to it, and you'll be fine."

"Thanks," Kendall smiled and nodded in reply. He took a deep breath and rubbed his hands together. "Let's get this meet and greet started."

"Good luck guys," Julius gave his brothers and sisters a hug before he and Kelly started to walk away. "Don't forget, only five minutes to a person." He called to everyone and the two bands continued towards the sitting room.

"So, is that really everything that we need to know?" Kendall asked as he matched his stride with Riley, who was talking to Patrick and Sydney, about what they had to do before they went on. "Like, what to do if there's a crazy fan?" he asked jokingly, earning a bout of laughter from his girlfriend.

"There are no crazy fans that we've ever encountered in the US," she replied as she turned her head to look at him. "Pretty much all you have to remember is to smile, not to let on that your hand starts to cramp up after you sign so many things, and give small talk."

"That's a lot," Kendall commented as he ran his hands through is hair nervously. "Anything else?"

"Yeah," Riley smirked as she stood on her tip-toes and kissed her boyfriend on the cheek. "You're mine and no one else's."

"She gets jealous." Patrick stage-whispered and laughed as he danced away from Riley's outstretched hand, where she was going to hit Patrick on the back of his head. He stuck his tongue out and took a running jump, landing on Noah's back. Noah easily adapted to the weight that suddenly landed on him and moved his arms under his twin brother's legs and held him up.

Kendall laughed at the two of them before addressing Riley. "I was already aware of that," Kendall replied and kissed his girlfriend on the side of the head. "But thanks for the reminder." He smiled at her again before smiling and waving towards the crowd of girls, and guys, that were lined up and patiently waiting for the two bands so they could start the meet and greet.

Kendall, James, Carlos, and Logan waved towards their fans and tried to avert their gazes so they could keep from getting blinded by the camera flashing and sat down at the table that was set up for them, grabbing the felt tip markers that were set up for them.

"This is it guys," James was literally bouncing in his seat as a stage hand for the concert came up to the line and announced to the room the rules that they had about the meet and greet. (Pretty much the same rules that Kelly and Julius told had told the bands a few minutes ago. "The big time! Our first meet and greet! I can't wait!"

"If you're this excited when we're just opening for our friends, I can't _wait_ to see how you'll be when we go on our first very big headlining tour." Logan commented sarcastically and then laughed when James shot an offended glare over at him. "I'm just kidding, dude." He punched his friend on the arm. "I'm almost as psyched as you are."

"Almost being the keyword there," Kendall agreed as he rolled his eyes. "Because we all know that James would keep trying to prove that he's the one that's the most excited out of all of us."

"You know it," James replied and then clenched his hands into fists to keep them from shaking out of excitement. "I've been dreaming of this moment ever since I wanted to become a famous singer-model-actor."

"Oh, so you mean the two minutes after you were born?" Carlos joked in reply and the four of them laughed as a young girl and her mother walked up to the table. "Hi there, cutie." He grinned at the little girl that was by her mother's side. "How are you today?" The girl made a whining sound and moved behind her mother's back.

"Oh she's a little shy," the mother smiled towards the four boys, who smiled politely in reply, and placed a poster onto the table. "Could you please sign this for her?" He gently pushed her daughter forward. "Don't be shy, dear."

"Oh it's no problem at all," Carlos smiled sweetly and grabbed the poster and uncapped his marker. "What's your name, cutie?"

"Amy." The girl replied quietly, still hiding behind her mother's skirt. Carlos smiled and signed the poster before moving it over to James, who signed it with flourish. As the poster kept getting passed down, Amy edged out from behind her mother's skirt, still looking a little shy. By the time Kendall had finished signing the poster, she was smiling widely, bouncing up and down on her tiptoes as he handed the poster back to her.

"There you go," Kendall smiled warmly as the girl grabbed the poster and hugged it to her chest, rocking back and forth.

"Thank you," the woman stated and grabbed Amy's hand and led her away from the table. Before anyone could comment on her, the next fan came up to the table and shoved stuffed bears into their hands before giving them a poster and a CD to sign. They stared; eyes and mouths wide open as the girl started squealing uncontrollably, and sounding like she was hyperventilating.

"You guys are so awesome!" she squealed, bouncing up and down on her toes. "My name is Sally and I love you guys so much!" She moved close to the table and the guys immediately backed up into their personal space. "I have all of your posters in my room!" She slapped a poster over to Carlos and he quickly started to write his name on it. "Even just little pictures of you in corners of magazines, I have them in my room! I love you so much!" Her eyes widened and she started to breathe erratically.

"You're not going to blow up are you?" James asked as he shielded his face, just in case. "Because I just got clean clothes and-"Logan slapped a hand over James' mouth to get him to stop talking.

"James shut up," Logan hissed, elbowing his friend in the side before noticing that she had pulled a small capsule out of her bag and had it in her mouth. "She has asthma stupid!"

"Sorry!" James hissed back and quickly signed the poster before giving it to Logan. "But none of the Jacksons act like that and _they_ have asthma! How was I supposed to know?"

"Here you go, Sally." Kendall hesitantly gave the girl her poster and he cried out and pulled his hand back as she grabbed it as if she was a piranha.

"Oh my god, you said my name!" Sally's eyes were so wide they looked like they could be the size of dinner plates. At that moment, Kendall felt that he wanted to dive under the table for cover and he could tell from his best friends' expressions, they felt the same way. "I love you!"

The boys backed their chairs up as far as they could and huddled together in fear as Sally tried to dive across the table and hug at least one of them. One of the security guards that were on standby quickly moved forward and picked the girl up as if she was a feather and walked away with her still yelling 'I love you' to the guys as she was taken away.

The other fans after her were relatively normal (and sane as Carlos put it.) There were just as many guys as there were girls and because Logan was so smart, it was most likely because they wanted to get autographs from Riley and Rhuben, as well as their opening band. They signed a lot of t-shirts, posters, and CDs as well as receiving many gifts. They got gift baskets, stuffed animals, fan letters, food, bracelets, even shoes. Anything that you could think of getting as a gift, they were given. And then there were the photos. Flash after flash after flash went off into the boys' faces and they were smiling so hard that they were surprised that their cheeks hadn't gotten stuck in the position that they held it in. And even though they were still having so much fun, especially with the adrenaline rush that they were feeling as the time for the concert to start was getting closer and closer, Carlos wasn't as happy as he could be.

'_Get a grip Carlos,_' he scolded himself as he continued to sign autographs and smiled for pictures. '_All of these fans are here for you and for your friends, don't go getting so emotional over it_' he tried to boost up his morale, but he knew deep down that it wasn't working. He could still see it as pictures were being taken, there were the people that wanted all four of them to be in the picture and then there were the ones that people wanted individually. He couldn't help but notice that his friends got asked for more solo pictures than he did.

And even though he had just talked to Stephanie about not worrying what other people, besides her, thought. It still hurt. And Carlos could tell that from the way that his friends were carrying on with the meet and greet, that they didn't notice that he wasn't smiling as hard. And that the smile wasn't reaching his eyes as usual. And that he wasn't signing each autograph with as much gusto or excitement that he had at the start of it. Sure, all of the guys were getting tired, but Carlos was acting differently.

And…it was as if they didn't notice…

'_Of course they don't notice_' Carlos thought as he continued to sign things, almost as if on auto-pilot. '_They're so busy trying to keep our fans happy that they aren't worrying about me._' Carlos gave a little shake of his head and then smiled as hard as he could without it hurting as he took the next CD and gift. '_Just suck it up for the fans, Carlos. Things will get better_.'

The boys continued to sign things until the line dwindled down and there was no one left. They didn't get a chance to stop and stretch before Gustavo had grabbed them and hauled them into the makeup room, where they got make up put on as Gustavo and Kelly ran back and forth with different clothing options for them to wear for their show. And while that was going on, they were working on their vocals.

"Wow, you guys are working really hard here," Mrs. Knight commented with a laugh as she walked into the room with Katie, Stephanie, Camille, WayneWayne, and Jo trailing along behind her. They all had VIP passes around their necks. "We're not interrupting are we?"

"YES, YOU ARE!" Gustavo shouted. He wasn't shouting because he could and he wasn't shouting because he was mad, he was shouting because he was afraid that the guys would be late for opening night, and that was _not_ going to happen on his watch.

"No, you're not." Kelly replied with a sharp look towards Gustavo. One eyebrow raise from Kelly said everything that needed to be said, it wasn't different in this case.

"What's up mom?" Kendall's eyebrows furrowed together as he looked at his mother in the mirror that he was sitting at as his hair was brushed by a hair dresser. Mrs. Knight hesitated, her hand partly in her purse. She had a look in her eyes as if she didn't want to say something.

And that was definitely true, earlier that day she had gotten something in the mail that caused her blood to run cold and her entire body to freeze. But she put it away into her purse without a second thought, wanting to find some time to think about what it could say. And she knew that Kendall was perceptive, he always was, and most likely always will be. But she wasn't sure if that was such a good thing now. If she told him what was going on, he would be bummed before the tour even officially started and she didn't want that. She didn't want that for Katie either, who was really excited to see her brother perform for something so big.

"Nothing," Mrs. Knight smiled and walked over to her son and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm just proud of my baby."

"Thanks mom," Kendall replied with a smile, although he was blushing at the pet name. She smiled in reply and moved across the room to talk to Gustavo and Kelly.

"What's bothering you, girl?" Kelly asked as she crossed her arms over her chest. Mrs. Knight gave a small smile and shook her head. "Don't even think of denying that anything is wrong, I can tell." She turned and pointed towards Gustavo, who was messing with something on his phone. "Like, I know that Gustavo here, who's _supposed_ to be on a diet, has been sneaking down in the middle of the night for some chicken."

"How could you _possibly_ know that?" Gustavo asked, looking shocked and scared at the same time.

"I've got my ways," Kelly replied before turning back to Mrs. Knight and gently rubbing her arm. "Are you sure you're ok, Kacy? Do you want to talk about it?"

"And ruin the guys' big night?" Mrs. Knight shook her head as she turned to look at her son and his friends, who were huddled around each other, talking about the upcoming show and what they should or shouldn't wear. She was smiling gently as she turned back to Kelly and Gustavo, who was now looking at her in concern. "No, it can wait."

"If you're sure," Kelly replied with a smile and then winced, slapping her hands over her ears as the door to the dressing room opened and Gustavo started to yell.

"HEY, YOU FIVE, OUT!" He shouted, pointing at the Jacksons, who ignored him completely. Kelly and Gustavo (even though he wouldn't admit it) liked that about them, they didn't care that Gustavo would shout and scream at them, they were used to it, and so they ignored him. But from a conversation that Ronan had with Kelly, the five of them thought of Gustavo like a crazy uncle, someone who was weird, but cool to hang out with too. "What, do they not hear me?"

"We've never listened to what you had to say," Sydney replied and smiled as he grabbed onto the arm of Carlos' chair and twirled it around. "So why start now?" His smiled grew wider as Gustavo looked flabbergasted.

"Anyway," Noah got his friends attention. "We just wanted to say break a leg before you guys go on." He smiled gently. "We hope that you guys have a good run tonight?"

"What, are you too afraid to say good luck?" Katie asked and then raised an eyebrow as Big Time Rush, Jo, and Camille gasped loudly, covering their hands over their mouths. "What?" she looked annoyed and glanced over at Stephanie, who shrugged.

"Don't look at me," she raised her video camera. "I'm the one that stands _behind_ the camera."

"Saying good luck before you go on stage gives someone _bad luck_" Jo replied and then threw her arms into the air. "Now you've pretty much doomed everybody into a bad concert."

"Cool." Katie smiled in excitement as she turned back to the Jacksons.

"Nah, not really," Patrick replied as he looked at his friends as if he was crazy. "We just like saying it because it's a joke towards me," he rolled his eyes as he gestured to himself. "Because one time we said 'break a leg' before we went onstage, I tripped…and broke a leg."

"Now we say that instead of good luck." Rhuben concluded. "Kind of stupid and weird, but," she wrapped an arm around Sydney's neck and pulled him towards her, both of them smiling with their teeth showing. "But you love us anyway."

"Not that we have a choice." James agreed and laughed as Riley reached over and punched him on the arm. "Kidding." He stated as he held his hands up defensively before rubbing his arm where she had punched him. "I'm kidding."

"I'm sure." She replied, although she was smiling herself. "So are you guys ready?" she asked as she looked at her watch.

"Yeah, totally ready!" Logan replied and punched the air with his fists.

"Cool 'cause you only have two minutes left before you go on and-"

"I'm not ready!" Logan replied his eyes wide as he lowered his arms. "Oh my god, I don't remember the songs that we're doing!" he started to hyperventilate. "I don't remember the dance steps!" His eyes got even bigger. "I don't even know my name!" He looked around. "What's my name?" He grabbed Carlos by the shoulders and started to shake him. "WHAT'S MY NAME?"

"Logan!" Jo, Stephanie, Camille, and Katie shouted in unison.

"Dude, you gotta calm down." WayneWayne added as he moved over to his friend and put an arm around his shoulders, trying to get him to calm down. "Everybody out there loves you and they won't care whether or not you fall…" he trailed off and then looked over at Katie as he started to smile. "But we won't ever let you live it down." He burst out laughing along with Katie and the two high-fived. Camille frowned and grabbed onto WayneWayne's ear, pulling him towards her and away from Katie. "Ow! Ow! Ow! Let go of the ear!"

Camille smiled and nodded when he apologized. She let go of his ear and pulled her purse back up her shoulder. "You guys are going to be really good out there, we know it."

"Thanks Camille, that's really helpful." Carlos smiled warmly.

"Yeah, it's so sweet." Gustavo replied sarcastically and then looked at his watch. "But you're going on _now!_" He grabbed the boys out of their chairs and started to push them out of the room. "Say goodbye to your friends, and go out and DON'T SCREW UP!"

He flung open the door to the dressing room just as Julius was going to open it to tell them that they only had thirty seconds to get onstage. But because Gustavo had flung open the door at the same time, it hit Julius in the forehead, causing him to stumble backwards into the wall opposite of the door. He looked up at Gustavo as he passed with the boys and then looked into the dressing room, where Kelly, Mrs. Knight, his brothers and sisters, Camille, WayneWayne, Stephanie, Jo, and Katie were all leaning over and staring at him.

"That's gotta hurt." Patrick winced as he shook his head back and forth.

"Are you ok?" Sydney asked worriedly as a red spot rapidly started to form on his eldest brother's forehead. "That looks liked it _really_ hurt." He moved forward and peered at Julius' forehead,reaching out to touch the spot, but Julius pushed his hand away.

"Nothing that I'm not used to from you guys," Julius replied as he pulled himself to his feet, brushing off his clothes. He winced as he lightly touched his forehead. "But I could use some ice." He pulled his hand away, sucking in a deep breath, looking like he was about to cry from the pain.

"I'll go get some for you," Mrs. Knight said as she hurried over to him and grabbed his arm. "I want to make sure that you don't pass out or anything." She started to lead him away, but Kelly's voice caused them to stop.

"It's better if I take him," Kelly interrupted, shaking her head as she left the dressing room. "That way you can make it to your seat before the boys go on." She explained and briefly let go of his arm to make sure that he wasn't going to fall down.

"Good idea," Julius agreed and turned to his brothers and sisters. "You guys are on in half an hour; you should start working on your vocals." He explained and they nodded in reply, showing that they weren't going to make fun of him or anything, like they usually would. It was almost showtime and they knew that it was time for them to get serious..

"Got it," Rhuben gave him thumbs up and then turned to her friends. "Hey, you guys better go get to your seats, we'll see you after the show." She gave each of them a quick hug before leaving the dressing room.

"Good luck," Katie said to Noah, smiling nervously. Noah smiled back at her as he swiveled his head to the side (much like James does) to get his hair out of his face. "Hope you have a good show." she added sweetly.

"Thanks," He crossed his arms over his chest. "Although I don't need it, we always have a good show." He smiled, showing his teeth. Katie looked at him as if he was crazy.

"So how is it that you can act like you own the world when you're going on stage?" She asked slowly, looking suspicious. "But then be extremely shy when you're not."

"Because I don't actually have to talk to people when I'm on stage," Noah replied as if it was obvious, and then his smile faded. "But seriously, thanks. It helps a lot." He leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek, causing her to smile and blush, ignoring the girls' stares at her. "I'll see you after the show, yeah?"

"C'mon lover boy!" Patrick grabbed his twin's arm and dragged him out of the room with his brother and sisters as the girls, Mrs. Knight, and WayneWayne hurried to their seats. Just as they got to the VIP section, along with some other fans that had bought the VIP package, the lights dimmed and girls started to scream as Kendall, Carlos, James, and Logan walked out on stage, looking more calm and collected than they had just been before.

"What's up San Diego?" Logan asked into his microphone, grinning at the screaming that he got in reply. "How are you doing tonight?"

"We're so glad to be able to open for our friends the DarkElements tonight," James added as he walked towards the front of the stage that had a built in catwalk that the Jacksons had specifically asked for. "And we're so glad to be able to perform for you guys tonight."

"The first song that we're going to start with is the song that helped us make it big and helped us realize that when you have the opportunity, you should follow what you believe in, big time." Carlos added with a laugh.

"This song is Big Time Rush," Kendall said into his microphone as James moved back with his friends to fall into the formation that the four of them were used to. The four of them split across the stage, two and two, as the backup band started to play the beat to their song.

"Make it count, play it straight, don't look back, don't hesitate." Kendall sang as he moved to the front of the stage with James as Carlos and Logan walked back and forth across the stage, clapping their hands to the beat, encouraging the audience to do the same.

"When you go big time" James sang as the four voices came together. "What you want, what you feel, never quit, and make it real." He pulled his microphone away from his mouth and danced a little bit before bring it back to his mouth again. "When you roll big time."

"Hey, hey, listen to your heart now" Kendall sang and then pointed over at James.

"Hey, hey, don't you feel the rush?" James sang back.

"Hey, hey, better take your shot now. Oh, oh, oh, oh." The four boys moved back together as they started the dance moves for the chorus. "Go on shake it up, what you gotta lose? Go and make your luck with the life you choose. If you want it all, lay it on the line. It's the only life you got, so you gotta live it big time."

The audience screamed as Logan handed Carlos his microphone, ran forward, and did a series of front flips across the stage. He landed cleanly and grinned as he hurried over to Carlos and grabbed his microphone again as the two of them moved towards the front of the stage. Kendall and James were also at the front, but they were bending down and touching their fans' hands.

"Step it up, getting gear, Go for broke, make it clear." Logan sang, the biggest smile that he had ever had on his face. He winked towards the crowd and smiled when three girls practically fainted on the spot. "Gotta go big time."

"Make it work, get it right, Change the world over night." Carlos sang, bouncing on his toes, he looked over towards the VIP section and waved at Stephanie, who grinned and waved back, swaying back and forth and clapping along with the beat of the song. All of the girls, including Mrs. Knight were dancing along with her; WayneWayne looked a little uncomfortable as he bobbed his head to the beat. "Gotta dream big time."

"Hey, hey, give it all you got now" Kendall sang into his microphone as the four of them grouped together again.

"Hey, hey, isn't it a rush?" James sang as he turned a questioning look towards his friends, laughing as well.

"Hey, hey, finish what you start now" Logan sang back. "Oh, oh, oh, oh"

As the boys moved through the chorus, they mentally got ready for the hardest part of the song. The footwork and the timing is that why where having the most trouble with for the past few days of rehearsal and even though they got it nearly perfect in the rehearsal that morning, they were afraid that they were going to somehow mess up.

"Look around, everyone is shining now, it's brighter somehow." Kendall sang as he moved into his position, looking over at his friends.

"Look around, nothing's really as it seems, nothing but dreams." James backed away from his friends, tucking his microphone into the waist band of his belt.

"You and I, gonna make a brand new sound, like we own this town." Logan sang and then moved next to Kendall, waiting for Carlos.

"We can fly," Carlos sang and then moved next to James, closing his eyes as the three moved into a step ladder shape. "Now our feet are off the ground and never look down." He, Kendall, and Logan sang as James took a running start, ran up their backs, and flipped off of Kendall's back, doing a butterfly twist. They had had trouble with that all day and now it was time to see if it was going to work.

Carlos' eyes flew open when he heard the screams of the crowd and he turned and saw James pulling his microphone out of the waistband of his pants, smiling as Kendall and Logan clapped him on the back as they moved by him. He made it, he seriously made it. Carlos could scarcely believe it, but knew he had to move quick before the rest of the song got messed up.

"Welcome to the big time" Carlos sang as he, Kendall, and Logan waved their hands back and forth over their head.

"All the pretty people seen walkin' in the sunshine" Logan sang.

"Welcome to the good times" Kendall sang.

"Life will never be the same" James sang as he tiled his head back, holding out the note, squeezing his eyes shut at the same time.

"Go on shake it up, what you gotta lose? Go and make your luck with the life you choose" The four boys moved to the front of the cat walk and bent down low as they sang to their fans, grabbing onto a few people's hands and blowing kisses as they did so. "If you want it all, lay it on the line, It's the only life you got, so you,"

"Gotta live it big time." Kendall sang as the backup band stopped playing the song, to put more emphasis on the line. The four boys hurried back the main part of the stage.

"If you want it all, lay it on the line. It's the only life you got, so you gotta live it big time." James and Logan finished the song with a simultaneous back flip, causing the audience to go wild.

"Thank you!" Carlos called, wiping sweat off of his forehead as they gave themselves a few minutes to catch their breath. The cheering was deafening and their blood was already pumping like crazy. "Thank you so much, we're glad you enjoyed it!"

"We know that you're going to enjoy this next one too, this is Any Kind of Guy." James announced.

* * *

_We're halfway there, we're looking good now  
Nothing's gonna get in the way  
We're halfway there and looking back now  
I'd never thought that I'd ever say  
We're halfway there, we're halfway there  
(Oh, we're halfway there, halfway there )_

_Oh, we're halfway there, halfway there  
Oh, we're halfway there, halfway there_

"Thank you!" Logan called into his microphone. He was exhausted to say the least. They had performed Big Time Rush, Any Kind of Guy, Famous, The City Is Ours, Shot in the Dark, and Halfway There, and now it was time to turn it over to the DarkElements. "You guys have been really great tonight!"

"But now it's time for what you really came here for," Carlos added and then paused, looking a little horrified. "Not that you didn't' want to come and see us. Who wouldn't want to see us?" His eyes widened. "Not that you don't want to see us either-"

"They get it, Carlos," Kendall smiled as he put an arm around Carlos' shoulders and pulled him into his side. "Just calm down, dude, we're done, we can relax." He turned towards the audience. "You guys liked us, right?" he smiled when he heard the scream as a reaction. "That's what I thought."

"Now, without further adieu, we'd like to help you in welcoming our friends to the stage." James took over. "Give it up for the DarkElements!" The four boys hurried offstage as the lights dimmed and the screaming started again. They quickly talked to Gustavo and then hurried into the VIP section with the rest of their friends.

"You were great." Jo smiled as she threw her arms around James' neck and gave him a kiss. "Simply awesome, as always." She added with a giggle and a bat of her eyes.

"I know, right?" James replied with a grin.

"I can't believe it; my big brother did something without screwing it up for once in his life." Katie stated, smiling smugly as she hugged her brother around the waist. "You did great, Kendall."

"She's right," Mrs. Knight gave her son a kiss on the cheek. "You were amazing, sweetie."

"Thanks guys." Kendall smiled back.

"You did great Carlos," Stephanie hugged her boyfriend tightly and then frowned when she noticed that he didn't hug her back as tightly as he usually did. "What's wrong, Carlos?" she made a face. "You're still upset about the-"

"No, not at all!" Carlos shook his head and kissed her on the lips, smiling as he did so. "I'm just tired, c'mon, let's support our friends." He took her hand and then turned to face the stage as the music started and the Jacksons appeared on stage along with pyrotechnics. When the five of them moved by him, he frowned when he noticed something weird. "Ummm, are their eyes different colors?"

Everybody turned to look, and Carlos was right. Instead of their eyes being blue, Riley's were red, Rhuben's were purple, Patrick's were yellow, and Noah's were gold. Sydney's eyes were still blue, but they were a brighter shade of blue, as they could see from the big screen in the back of the stadium.

"Its colored contacts," Camille explained, shouting over the music. "I've had to use them sometimes for auditions for movies and stuff."

"Something missing left behind. Search in circles. Every time I try." Riley sang as she pushed up the sleeves of her leather jacket, bending down to high-five some of their fans. _"_I've been here before. I've seen you before." She jogged backwards until she was with her brothers and sisters again, and they broke out into the dance routine for the song.

"I can't escape winding down these halls. Hard to find a place where there are no walls. And no lines begging me to cross. Only straight ahead better move along." They sang the chorus, ending in a five-way back-flip. As the music went on, Patrick and Noah moved to the front of the stage, clapping out a beat, the audience clapping along with them. Sydney and Riley moved towards the sides of the stage as Rhuben walked forward, along with the beat of the song, to stand in between Patrick and Noah.

"Like Clockwork, I commit the crime." She sang as she reached down and touched a few people's hands. I pretend to be everything they like." She turned and pointed towards Logan, smiling a little. He blushed and gave a small wave back. "I've been here before. I've seen you before." She turned and ran towards Noah, grabbing onto the arm that he held out and flipped herself over, landing on her feet. The two then moved to the beat of the song and the Jacksons came together in their new formation: Patrick, Riley, Sydney, Rhuben, and then Noah.

"I can't escape winding down these halls. Hard to find a place where there are no walls." And no lines begging me to cross. Only straight ahead better move along." They sang, dancing across the stage, putting all of their strength and emotion into each dance move, pumping their bodies and hitting each mark as they had practiced earlier that day. "And I trade everything for this. And I trade everything for this. Why do I read the writing on the wall? Why do I read the writing on the wall?"

The Jacksons performed a group back flip and landed easily on their feet, immediately moving into a front flip. Patrick, Noah, and Sydney moved towards the front of the stage as Riley and Rhuben moved to the side, stretching their arms as they went.

"I won't lose my place in line." Patrick sang, breathing heavily, little beads of sweat already gathering on his forehead. "I've been here too long and I've spent too much time." He rolled across the stage, propelling himself with his feet and pointed over to Noah, who took up singing next.

"I won't lose my place in line." He sang, waving to some people in the crowd. "I've been here too long and I've spent too much time."

"Something missing. Left behind." Sydney sang, each breath punctuating the pauses in the song. "Search in circles, every time I try. I've been here before, yeah. I've seen you before."

As the Jacksons started to sing again, Riley and Rhuben ran forward, swung their arms down and did a series of front flips along with the beat of the song as Patrick, Noah, and Sydney slid forward on their knees, getting back on their feet in a kip-up. They meet in the middle and doing a simultaneous cartwheel. "I can't escape winding down these halls." Patrick, Noah, and Sydney sang.

"Hard to find a place where there are no walls." Riley and Rhuben sang, punching the air for emphasis, their hair flying across their faces.

"And no lines begging me to cross. Only straight ahead better move along. And I trade everything for this. And I trade everything for this. Why do I read the writing on the wall? Why do I read the writing on the wall? Why do I read the writing on the wall? Why do I read the writing on the wall?"

They moved to the back of the stage and took their instruments over from the back-up band. Julius and Brittany, who were helping the stage hands, walked out onstage, holding onto stools. They placed two of them in the middle of the stage and moved microphones in front of them and quickly hurried off. Riley and Rhuben, who were holding onto acoustic guitars, walked over and sat down on the stools.

"Thanks for coming you guys," Patrick said into his microphone, wiping sweat off of his forehead. "And welcome to our Don't Stop Believing tour. We're going to be traveling all over the US and back home in Australia."

"We really hope that you have so much fun with us tonight because we're hoping to make this the best night of your lives." Sydney added.

"I bet you've noticed our new look," Noah added as he adjusted his seat for the drum set he was sitting behind. "Well, our managers and music producers, our dad and Julius, had noticed that you guys have liked our old, darker sound more," he took a breath and made a face. "We didn't really like the idea because we wanted to do our new music, but we compromised and our new CD that was originally going to be completely our new sound is half our darker sound and half our new sound."

"Could you explain a little faster?" Patrick asked impatiently, twirling his hands in the air, motioning for him to move faster.

Noah smiled a little as he took a deep breath and then started speaking. "" Noah turned and smirked as his brother. "Better?" (So we decided to go along with it and change our style to match both sides as well as making our concert hold both types of songs.)

"Much" Patrick replied with a smirk of his own.

"Alright," Rhuben lightly tapped her black acoustic guitar. "So, this song we actually wrote a long, long, time ago," she motioned between her and Riley. "We wrote it back when we left Texas and left our best friend Logan." She motioned to him in the crowd and the twin girls smiled.

"Rhuben and I found the lyrics again, gave it a twist, and it's what it is now," Riley continued to explain as she twirled her guitar pick in her fingers. "So we're dedicating this to him." She cleared her throat and moved closer to the microphone, balancing on the edge of the stool. "This is Shadows and Regrets."

She leaned away from the microphone and counted out the beat of the song before the two girls started playing the rhythm to the song. "I'm back, back in town and everything has changed." Riley lowered her voice to the pitch of the next part of the song. "I feel, feel let down, the faces stay the same." She closed her eyes and continued to sing. "I see, see shadows, of who we used to be. When I drive, drive so slow. Through this memory."

She and Rhuben moved towards the microphones as they sang, the acoustic guitars the only thing accompanying them. "When we were only kids, and we were best of friends, and we hoped for the best, and let go of the rest." Patrick, Noah, and Sydney came in the song as the audience members took out their cell phones and started to sway them back and forth.

Backstage, Gustavo, Kelly, Julius, Ronan, and Brittany were watching, transfixed as they watched the cell phones move back and forth. "This is a powerful song." Brittany commented gently, holding onto Julius' hand.

"Their songs always are." Julius murmured in reply, not taking his eye off of the effect his brothers and sisters had on the audience.

"Hate to admit it man," Gustavo slapped Ronan on the back. "But you did good with these kids," he shook his head, smiling a little. "I only wish that I could get the dogs this disciplined."

"I'll be sure to tell them that." Kelly stated as she rolled her eyes. Ronan laughed and shook his head, before falling silent and letting the song wash over him.

"I heard, heard myself, say things I'd take back." Rhuben sang, moving close to the microphone as Riley sang some parts in the background, their voices sounding the same but different at the same time. "If I could, could retell, and make these stories last." Rhuben took a breath, licked her lips, and started singing again. "I see, see shadows, of who we'll always be." She closed her eyes and sang with emotion filling her voice. "And I drive; drive these roads that made our memories."

Riley and Rhuben started to sing the chorus again. Katie, who was standing with her friends, was sort of annoyed as they were taller than her and she couldn't really see what was going on. James noticed and nudged Kendall in the side, causing him to look over at him. James motioned towards Katie and Kendall looked over at her and caught her gaze. He understood immediately and easily put Katie onto his shoulders so she could see. She smiled as she watched her friends perform; it was always so relaxing watching them. Whatever energy they had, they seemed to be able to give to the audience so easily that they felt whatever emotion that they were putting out.

She looked over at the back of the stage and smiled when she saw homemade videos of Riley, Rhuben, and Logan from when they were 8 to the age that they were now. (She guessed that his mom had sent them some of the videos.) Some images she could hear people laughing at, such as Riley pushing Logan's face in the mud when they were eight. Katie looked over at Logan and saw that he looked embarrassed, but was laughing along with the audience.

"Everything has changed" Riley sang.

"Everything has changed" Patrick echoed, readying his bass guitar for the next part of the song.

"Faces stay the same" Rhuben sang as she looked out at the audience. On stage, the camera guy moved in front of her and her face, along with her purple eyes, was put up on the big screen.

"Faces stay the same" Noah echoed.

"Everything has changed" Riley and Rhuben sang.

"Everything has changed" Sydney sang as the big screen in the background turned to a wide shot of all five of them.

"Faces stay the same" Riley and Rhuben sang in unison, holding out the last note as they moved into the rest of the song. "When we were only kids. And our time couldn't end. And how tall did we stand? With the world in our hands."

She turned to Rhuben and the two of them nodded in unison before all five of them started to play their instruments and sing in unison, their voices harmonizing easily. "And we were only kids, and we were best of friends, and we hoped for the best, and let go of the rest. Shadows and regrets. We let go of the rest. Shadows and Regrets. We let go of the rest."

"Thank You" Riley said into her microphone before the stage went dark and all of them got up and moved backstage.

"That was a really good song." WayneWayne commented as he ran his fingers through his hair. "You could really feel the power and emotion in it."

"Yeah, that's what they're really good at." Mrs. Knight broke into the conversation, causing everyone to turn to her. "Ronan has been talking about them a lot lately, how proud he is. He says that when they're performing and when they're writings songs, it's them giving a piece of themselves to their fans, to give back for everything that their fans have done." She took a deep breath, looking like she was going to cry. "Pretty much, exposing themselves for the world to see them as real people, so they can get over their problems with their fans' help."

"Mom, are you ok?" Katie asked as Kendall dropped her form his shoulders. She moved forward to give her mom a hug, but she backed away.

"Mom?" Kendall looked concerned.

"I have to go to the bathroom," Mrs. Knight stated as she dropped her purse onto her seat. "Really, I'm fine." With that, she turned and quickly walked away.

"Mom!" Kendall shouted after her, but his words got drown out by the music starting up again.

* * *

The concert lasted for about two hours as the Jacksons spent time talking to fans, bringing some people up on stage to perform with them, singing to a few fans, reading fan mail, answering questions, ordering a pizza on stage (courtesy of Patrick who wanted to see which company would get there faster), looking at Twitter on the big screen, calling some fans to say 'hi' and just talking normally in between songs. They went through The Kill, Still Frame, One Step Closer, Don't Stay, Somewhere I belong, and Numb for their darker songs before going into Eeenie Meenie, Sundown, All Downhill From Here, Way Away, View From Heaven, and California for their happier, upbeat songs. (Most of them Big Time Rush and their friends were surprised that they were able to make up dance routines for rock songs.)

"Alright everybody," Patrick said into his microphone, looking around at the audience, his now yellow eyes piercing. "It's the last song!" He smiled at the boos. "I know, I know, but we have to get Syd to bed eventually."

"It's not my fault I'm a growing boy," Sydney shrugged from behind his piano, grinning.

"We always do this song to close our shows," Rhuben said into her microphone, standing up behind her drum set. "It's the very first song that the five of us had ever written together and it's our very first single ever. Plus side it went straight to number one."

"This is It's Been A Summer." Noah called and then nodded and grinned as Riley started to play the opening chords of the song, Rhuben playing the drums in the background. As the opening progressed, Noah came in with his electric guitar before all five of them were playing at once.

"I'm cracked from my head down to my spine," Riley sang as she grabbed onto the microphone, pressing her mouth against the microphone in front of her as Noah continued to play the rhythm of the song. "Ready to Self-Destruct at any time." She flicked her head, moving her hair out of her face as she started to sing again, Patrick singing with her. "And I'm trying to convince myself that the way I feel is all I have." Patrick smiled as he backed away from the microphone and continued to jump around the stage like he always did when he played the bass. "It could take a lifetime to realize that you're alright."

"But she said, 'I'd know when you would come back'. It's been a summer." Patrick sang and the Jacksons started to sing in unison, pyrotechnics and flashing lights going off at the same time.

"It's burning up in here, even though the bed is cold on your side. I'd rather die than spend this night here without you." The five of them sang with huge smiles on their faces as they tried to play with as much enthusiasm as they could. "Now it's burning up in here, even though the bed is cold on your side. I'd rather die than spend this night here without you."

"Without you" Sydney sang and they played a short instrumental before Rhuben started to sing.

"I would try to fix these flaws of mine," she sang, bouncing along with the drum beat that she was playing. "If I could just see you for one more time. Ready to self-destruct at any time." Noah came in with her on the next part. "And I'm trying to convince myself that the way I feel is all I have. I don't believe in sure things. There's pain in what the truth brings."

"But she said, 'I'd know when you would come back'. It's been a summer." Noah sang and they all came into the chorus again.

"It's burning up in here, even though the bed is cold on your side. I'd rather die than spend this night here without you. Now it's burning up in here, even though the bed is cold on your side. I'd rather die than spend this night here without you."

"I'd be the first one to know" Riley sang into her headmics as she, Noah, Patrick, and Sydney started to jump up and down to the beat of the song.

"If it's smart for me to just let it go" Rhuben sang, smiling widely.

"I'll be the laughing stock of all time." Patrick sang, smiling over at Noah.

"Person most likely to find." Noah added before pointing over to Sydney.

"Deciding if its fate that made you avoid me to this day." He sang and then took over the next part. "I'd know when you would come back'. It's been a summer."

Riley, Patrick, and Noah moved to the same microphone as all five of them sang the chorus one more time. "It's burning up in here, even though the bed is cold on your side. I'd rather die than spend this night here without you. Now it's burning up in here, even though the bed is cold on your side. I'd rather die than spend this night here without you. Without You"

"Thanks everyone, take care!" Noah waved to the crowd. The Jacksons moved out from behind their instruments and set them on the stage as the backup band continued to play the song. All five of them headed down the catwalk, and when they got to the end, then grabbed hands and did a five-way bow before blowing kisses and waving to their fans as they hurried offstage.

It was a great opening night, and they could only hope that the rest of the tour could go as well.

* * *

"You guys did such an AMAZING job for your first night!" Ronan cried when everyone was in Big Time Rush's suite later that night after the concert. They were celebrating the first night with a lot of chips and soda and just hanging out with each other. As well as Sydney updating Big Time Rush's and the DarkElements' websites about the concert. "I really mean it, Gustavo too."

"Yeah, well, I…" Gustavo trailed off and started to mumble as he looked at his fingernails.

"What Gustavo means is that we're all proud of you for your first night." Brittany spoke up with a grin and started to applaud, getting everyone else to join in. "The rest of this night is all about you guys." She turned to the Jacksons. "Just make sure that you're in bed at an early hour 'because you have to go to the gym before rehearsal tomorrow."

"Wow, you're already sounding like you're married to Julius." Rhuben commented dryly from where she was sitting with Logan on the floor, her head resting in his lap.

"Haha" Julius replied and rolled his eyes.

"Seriously guys, get some sleep soon, alright," Kelly looked at everyone in the room seriously before leaving along with Gustavo, Julius, and Brittany.

"Are you ok, Kacy?" Ronan asked, hesitating at the doorway to the suite. Mrs. Knight looked over at him, with a raised eyebrow. "You've been kind of out of it for a while, and Kelly mentioned that something was bothering you." He watched as Mrs. Knight smiled gently and shook her head, her red hair falling over her shoulders.

"No, I'm fine." She replied convincingly. "Just a little tired."

Ronan didn't believe that for a second, after watching how the Jacksons had dealt with all of the lies that they had to face their whole lives he could tell when someone was lying over a mile away. Julius had taught him how to do that shortly after he had adopted all of them, and he had to say that it was really coming in handy.

"You're sure?" he asked anyway, not wanting to pry if she didn't want to talk.

"Positive." She replied.

"Alright," he placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it gently. "I'll see you tomorrow." He turned back towards the teenagers. "Get some rest soon guys." With that, he left the room and Mrs. Knight ducked into the bathroom.

"So, what do you guys want to do to celebrate your first sold out concert?" Stephanie asked as she slowly moved her video camera around the room, capturing the moment. "I'm open to all suggestions."

"Hmm, let's watch a movie!" Katie suggested after a second of thought. "We can watch Paranormal Activity, they have it on HBO." She added as she picked up the TV channel list and quickly scanned through it.

"Alright," Patrick replied and then looked over at Sydney. "But you're out of here when you get scared."

"I won't get scared." Sydney replied and stuck out his tongue. But he moved over to Rhuben and latched onto her side, causing her to laugh and to pull him onto her lap. Inadvertently making her, Sydney, and Logan looking like a little family. (A/N: I just had to throw that in there. :) "Just in case _you_ get scared." He explained when Rhuben looked down at him.

"Just in case, and for everyone's sanity, we'll leave at least one light on." WayneWayne reassured the small boy as he turned on the lamp by the TV as the other lights started to get turned off.

"Mom, do you want to watch with us?" Kendall asked, noticing that his mom was standing in the bathroom doorway, brushing her teeth. Mrs. Knight shook her head and disappeared back into the bathroom, before the sound of running water was heard. She left the bathroom, remembering to flick off the light, and went to the room that she and Katie were going to share in the suite.

"I'm just going to go to sleep," she replied, not looking at him. "Good night, love you."

"Love you, too." Kendall and Katie replied.

"What's wrong with Mama Knight?" Riley questioned, looking up into Kendall's face, looking concerned. The two were sitting on the couch and he had his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side, and her head was resting on his chest, breathing in his scent each time she took a breath.

"I'm not sure," Kendall replied with a heavy sigh. "But I hope I figure it out soon."

* * *

**A/N/: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I tried to put a little bit of everybody into this chapter as well as humor. This story, I can already say, is going to be longer than the last two, because I'm going to have the major plot lines for Big Time Rush, and then smaller ones for everyone else. So I'm going to try and have plot lines for everyone and some of them are going to start in the next couple of chapters. I'm going to do the best I can with getting everyone done so I hope you bear with me. Thanks for the reviews and keep em' coming! :)**

**Sorry this chapter took so long, I'm working on other stories as well as college homework, but I try to get them up as soon as possible for you all.**

**Next chapter has Kiley, Lella, Natie, and Jameo then the one after that has Carphanie, Wamille, Julany, and better looks at Kelly, Gustavo, Ronan, and Mrs. Knight as the story progresses.**

**-Riley**


	4. Big Time Friends

**.:Chapter Four – Big Time Friends:.**

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**After their opening concert at the House of Blues and then the next concert at the Cox arena in San Diego, the bus had turned around and was now headed towards Sacramento. And because the bands were so exhausted, as soon as they had gotten on the bus, they were knocked out like a light in the bunk beds that the bus had. Their tour bus was a double Decker bus that Ronan and Gustavo had designed themselves, so it could accommodate both bands and their friends/family. But since Gustavo was a big music producer that he was, he got a large bus for himself and Kelly. (Kelly was only on it just to make sure that he didn't go against his diet or anything.)

Everything was quiet and peaceful as the bus roared down the road…but of course that wasn't going to last long.

"HOLY CRAP, WHAT IS THAT?"

Kendall let out a startled scream as he rolled out of the top bunk and onto the bus floor. Logan and James fell out of their beds on top of him. Patrick and Noah sat up in unison and bumped their heads on the bottom of the bunks that were over them, crying out in pain. Riley and Rhuben pulled the curtain on their bunk beds to the side and peered out, and Sydney opened the curtain on his bunk bed and rubbed his eyes sleepily. Jo, Camille, Stephanie, WayneWayne and Katie, who were sitting in the lounge area as they weren't as exhausted as the bands were, rushed back to see what was going on.

"What's going on?" they all asked in unison, trying to figure out which one of them were the ones that had screamed, causing everyone to go into a frenzy. Sydney looked around, quickly calculation who wasn't there, and wasn't surprised that it was Carlos. Everyone else must have noticed as Kendall slapped his hands over his face and Logan was muttering his annoyance under his breath.

"Was that Carlos?" James groaned as he pulled himself to his feet, rubbing his head. He gasped when he felt that some of his hair had fallen out of his place and he quickly whipped out his lucky comb and started to pull it through his strands.

"You actually sleep with that thing?" Rhuben questioned as she raised an eyebrow, looking at him as if he was crazy. Then again, who wouldn't be considered crazy if you slept with a comb? It's just what made James, James.

"You never know when you're going to have to go to the door in the middle of the night." James replied as if it was obvious. Rhuben stayed quiet for a second as if seeing if he could realize how stupid he sounded. When he didn't say anything, she finally spoke up again.

"We're on a _bus_" she pointed out.

James just made a face as he continued to comb out his hair as Logan walked over to the bathroom, yawning. He looked inside and saw that Carlos was standing by the sink, looking extremely horrified. Worse than the time he was afraid of watching Paranormal Activity.

"Carlitos, that brown thing in the toilet is called doo-doo!" Logan said helpfully as he rolled his eyes. He waited to see if Carlos hear d him, but when his friend didn't move, Logan just went to climb back into his bunk bed.

"No, what the hell is that?" Carlos asked as he pointed to the cabinet under the sink.

"Language," Stephanie pointed out as she motioned over to Sydney.

"It's not like I haven't heard that from Ri-Ri and Rhu-Rhu before," he pointed out and then peered into the bathroom. When he saw what Carlos was pointing at, he scoffed and rolled his eyes and went back to sleep.

Riley pushed Carlos out of the way and knelt down to the sink to see the small green package that was under the sink. She stood up and looked at him as if he were stupid, which wasn't saying much because she was constantly saying that the guys were making her stupider and stupider the more that she hung around them.

She slowly rose back to her feet and glared at the boys, who looked at her nervously, afraid that she was going to start yelling at him. She took a deep breath before speaking so calmly and quietly that Patrick, Noah, and Rhuben could immediately tell that she was well beyond annoyed. "Haven't you seen tampons before?" she asked him.

"That's just disgusting," Carlos shuddered in an overly dramatic way. "Where do you put those things?" That question caused all of the girls to scoff and roll their eyes.

"Up your nose" Jo replied sarcastically as she crossed her arms over her chest at her friend's ignorance. "What are you doing?" She noticed that Carlos was going to take the tampons out from under the sink.

"Put those back!" Camille shrieked loudly. "As much as you don't want to believe that we actually use these, we need them at one point or another." She turned towards WayneWayne as if she was silently asking him for help.

He just looked back at her, nervously cleared his throat and held up his hands as he took a step back. "I don't want any part of this."

"No way, man!" James protested as he frantically pointed to the box. "There is NO way I'm living with _that_!"

Carlos nodded in agreement, which just confirmed Riley's thought that Carlos and James probably shared parts of their brains, the stupid parts. Rhuben crossed her arms over her chest, the same way that Riley was, she was annoyed too.

"Are you aware that your mom's need them and therefore-"Katie was cut off by Carlos and James slapping their hands over their ears and shouting at the top of their lungs. (How Ronan, Julius, Brittany, and Mrs. Knight didn't hear them, no one was really sure.)

"They're bunking with US; therefore OUR rights must be upheld!" Carlos panted with fear, his eyes growing wide. He turned and latched onto Kendall's arm and looked up at him with pleading eyes. "Kendall tell them to get their… their…" He trailed off, not wanting to say the vile word unfamiliar to his lips.

"TAM-_PONS,_ Carlos," Logan shot at him, smiling with amusement. He had abandoned the idea of going back to sleep due to everyone shouting at each other, and had been watching the exchange quietly. He leaned towards Carlos, grinning the biggest smile that anyone had ever seen on his face. "Come on, you can say it, TAM-_PONS_."

"If this is all they're going to argue about, I'm going back to sleep" Sydney muttered and pulled the curtain closed. Patrick and Noah grunted in agreement and got into their beds too, pulling their blankets over their heads.

"You guys are being ridiculous," Kendall added as he motioned over to Logan, as if silently thanking him. "Tampons belong in the bathroom so they can be easily accessed. It's a girl thing—"he rolled his eyes as he shook his head. "You wouldn't understand."

"Too much information," Stephanie muttered as she looked at him suspiciously.

Riley turned to Rhuben and the two smirked, thinking of an idea. "Okay, fine," Riley said with a challenging look at Carlos and James as she smiled slowly. "We'll keep them out," she paused, wanting to add drama to the situation. "If you take them out."

This shut Carlos and James up quickly, as they exchanged glances with each other as if looking for the brave volunteer, but in the end not one of them took their dare.

Riley and Rhuben grinned as they slapped each other high-fives.

Victory was theirs.

* * *

"Um, what are you doing?"

Rhuben looked up from the magazine that she was reading and looked over at Logan, who was staring intently at her as he tapped a pen against the notebook that was resting against his knees. The kids were sitting in the lounge area, doing homework to pass the time. Well, they were supposed to be doing their homework, but Carlos was too busy drawing on his arms and legs because he was bored.

"I'm reading a magazine," she replied simply and held it up, wiggling it around a little. "What does it look like I'm doing?" she smirked. "For someone so smart, you can be so slow sometimes."

"Haha," Logan rolled his eyes, not taking much offense from his girlfriend's teasing. "No I meant we all are doing homework," he moved his pen around to motion towards his friends, and then made a face at Carlos. "Well, some of us are. Home come you two," he motioned over to Riley, who was sitting on the couch, a laptop on her lap, listening to music. "Aren't?"

"There's a simple explanation for that," Sydney spoke up from where he was listening. He smiled when he had gotten everyone's attention and then smirked as he flicked his pencil towards the two girls. "They don't have any."

"Lucky!" James sighed heavily as he slapped his hands down onto his math book. "How did you manage to score that?" He glared down at his book. "I hate math so much, it's _so boring!_" he purposely added the last part towards Logan, who glared back at him.

"If you're Australian and you can finish high school when you're 16." Rhuben explained, ignoring James' statement. "And Riley and I did part of our schooling in Australia and then continued with the same system when our dad and Ronan started to home school us." She shrugged. "So, we're done."

"Have you guys decided whether or not you're going to go to college?" Katie asked, looking sincerely interested. "Like online or something?"

"I haven't really thought about it," Rhuben replied calmly. "I mean, the band is I ever really think about. Going to college is just too weird." She smiled a little. "Although I _do_ know that if I wanted to major in something, I would major in Music and Minor in Creative Writing or Photography or something."

"Of course you would," Jo smiled and nodded in encouragement. "You eat, sleep, and breathe music; it wouldn't surprise me if you end up becoming a music teacher later in life."

"Wait a minute," Patrick spoke up, looking a little alarmed. "You mean," his eyes widened a little bit. "We're not going to be a band for forever?" he started to hyperventilate a little bit and Noah, even though he was looking at his brother like he was crazy, patted him on the back comfortingly.

"Dude, stop being so dramatic." Katie stated using her standard be direct approach. That didn't work at all as Patrick started to rock back and forth along with hyperventilating.

"Sorry, he's really attached to the band." Sydney apologized lamely.

"Look at what you did, Jo." WayneWayne stated as she shook his head, motioning over to the young boy. "I think you just scarred him for life."

"I _think_ he's forgetting the fact that even if you guys aren't band, you're still a family." Stephanie replied with a giggle. "Hey Logan," she looked confused about something. "Can you help me with this chemistry problem?"

With that, everyone went back to the homework that they were supposed to be doing. But after a half hour or so of working, Kendall got hungry and got up to go to the refrigerator that was a floor above them. He was stopped by Ronan and his mom before he got there though. The two of them were sitting at the small booth/table that was on the bus, finishing a crossword puzzle. When Kendall saw the look on Ronan's face, which was seriously, he immediately wracked his brain, thinking of what he could have done to get in trouble so fast.

"Whatever it was that's cause you to be mad…it was Riley's idea." Kendall stated when he saw the looks on the adults' faces.

"I'm pretty sure it would be her idea too," Ronan replied and laughed a little bit at how fast Kendall had ratted her out. "But what I wanted to say was that we're going to stop at the beach soon, so you guys can get some much needed rest."

"The beach?" Kendall grinned at the idea of being able to rest a little bit at one of his favorite places on the planet. "Awesome! How long until we get there?"

"About an hour or so," Mrs. Knight replied and smiled as she rubbed her son's arm. "Could you get my purse from the TV room back there?" she asked him. "I have my phone in there and I need to call your Aunts and Uncles to tell them that at one point we're going to be back in Minnesota."

"Sure thing, mom." Kendall replied with a warm smile and hurried over to the TV room. Julius and Brittany were in there, watching something on MTV and looked up when he had entered the room.

"What's up, Kendall?" Brittany asked as she gave a warm smile.

"Looking for something?" Julius added as he grabbed the remote and turned down the volume.

"Yeah, I'm looking for my mom's purse." Kendall replied, looking around again. "She wanted me to get it. Oh," he snapped his fingers. "Ronan wants me to tell you guys that we're going to the beach soon, just to relax before our next concert."

"Alright," Brittany smiled and nodded and then pointed over to the couch that was next to them. "There's your mom's purse. She left it there last night after ordering something from one of those TV shops."

"Ooh," Kendall winced. "I hope it wasn't as bad as the time that she bought this solar powered electric blanket." He smiled a little bit at the memory. "She tried it out one winter and it burst into flames." Julius and Brittany laughed as he stepped over the mess of tangled wired, food wrappers, and video game controllers to grab her purse. When he grabbed it and swung it around, something fell out of the bag and on to the floor.

Stopping he went back to pick it up and looked confused when he saw that it was a letter addressed to him. He grabbed the envelope and held it up to his face to see who it was from. When he read the return address, his lips were set in a thin line and he pulled the envelope away, dropping it into his mom's purse as if his hand had been burnt. He didn't understand it, why in the world would he get one now? And why would his mom hide it from him?

He didn't understand it, but he wasn't going to spend his time dwelling over it either.

"Is something wrong, dude?" Julius asked. It was obvious that he had been watching him for the past couple of seconds. He looked concerned. "What was that?"

"Nothing," Kendall replied, sighing quietly. He shifted his grip on the purse and then headed back towards his mom, handing it to her quietly. "Here you go, mom." He walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed a box of grapes before going back down to the lounge. His friends had apparently given up on doing homework, as they were throwing crumpled sheets of paper around. Kendall flopped down on the couch, pulling his legs up underneath him.

Riley looked around her laptop and raised an eyebrow when she looked at him. "You ok?" she questioned gently.

"I'm fine." Kendall replied dismissively and then cleared his throat. "Oh, Ronan wanted me to tell you guys that we're going to the beach so we can relax before our next concert."

"Yay!" Sydney cheered. "The beach!" He jumped up from the floor and hurried over to Katie, grabbing onto her hand. "Katie, Katie, help me make a sandcastle?"

"Now you've done it, Hockey-Head" Riley chuckled. "You're going to make him so hyper it's not even funny. Nice job." She frowned when Kendall didn't respond. "What? Now witty comeback?" she looked offended. "What is it?"

"Nothing," Kendall replied after a second of silence. He turned and looked at her. "Nothing at all."

Riley silently nodded in reply before getting off of the couch to go get ready to go to the beach. Everyone else dispersed at that point too, talking excitedly about everything that they were going to do at the beach. Patrick, Noah, Sydney, and Katie were planning ways that each of them would be able to do something that they wanted to do in the time frame that they had, while the older kids were just saying that walking around and seeing the sites would be fine for them and that's how they were split up when they went to the beach.

Julius, Brittany, Patrick, Noah, Sydney, and Katie were hanging out on the beach, the older teenagers decided to walk along the boardwalk, and the adults went to go into town.

"Ok," James rubbed his hands together as he looked back and forth across the boardwalk. "What do you guys want o do first?" He waved his arm to the side, his older arm wound around Jo's. "We can do the palm reading, get a bite to eat, get our faces painted, get-"

"MOON BOUNCE!" Carlos, Riley, and Rhuben shouted in unison, pointing over towards the inflatable contraption. The three of them started to jump up and down before they skipped over towards the attraction. "Moon bounce! Moon bounce! Moon bounce!" They chanted over and over again as they went.

"Did anybody else find that extremely odd?" Logan asked his eyes wide.

"I think it's cute," Stephanie laughed as she turned on her video camera. "You're forgetting the fact that the two of them haven't had much of a childhood, so I say let them get it out of their system now." She giggled to herself as she moved towards the moon bounce, taping Carlos and the twin girls as they jumped up and down on the moon bounce.

"You're doing this for blackmail aren't ya?" WayneWayne questioned, raising an eyebrow as he walked up next to her.

"Of course." Stephanie replied with an evil grin.

It was these kinds of moments that showed how they were all good friends towards each other. When Riley and Rhuben first met Big Time Rush it was obvious that they didn't think very highly of them and that they were a bunch of idiots that just ran around trying to get in trouble. And it was a surprise to Logan that the two of them because friends with Jo, Camille, and Stephanie so easily as they were the ones that said that they would never become friends with girls because they had nothing in common. But it was also the two of them that were the first to see that WayneWayne had actually changed and that he and Camille dating wasn't such a bad thing. All of them could easily poke jabs at each other, but no one ever got insulted because their friendship was something that all of them treasured and something that they didn't want to give up anytime soon.

Logan laughed along with his friends and then went over to grab Rhuben's shoes and her wallet for when she was done jumping on the moon bounce. He noticed that something fluttered to the ground out of her wallet and bent to pick it up. He was only mildly surprised when he saw that it was a picture of a very beautiful looking couple. That was a really weird way to describe it, but it was the first word that popped into his head. The woman in the picture was definitely part Asian, but he couldn't tell how much. But the man looked really handsome, and the smile on his face was as if he knew it too. Both of them had black hair, but the woman's eyes were brown and the man's eyes were s bright shade of blue. Both of them were smiling brightly, and if Logan had to guess, it was a picture around the time of their wedding.

"You guys should really try that, it's _so_ much fun!" Riley declared, grinning like a little kid as she sat down to put her shoes back on. "Did you see the double bounce that Carlos did?" she and Carlos high-fived. "Totally awesome!"

"Have fun?" Logan questioned with a chuckle as he handed Rhuben her shoes.

"Thanks," she said breathlessly, taking them from him and using his shoulder to balance herself as she slid on one shoe. "Yep, I had a lot of fun." She smiled. "I haven't been on a moon bounce in years."

"I could tell," Logan's smiled waned a little bit as he handed her the picture that fell out of her wallet and grabbed her hand, the two of them slowly trailing behind everyone else. "This fell out of your wallet." Rhuben took the picture and looked at it, an unrecognizable expression on her face. "If you don't mind me asking...who are those people?" he started to stammer. "I mean, I think I have an idea of who it is but-"

"It's my mom and dad," Rhuben replied simply as she tucked away her wallet. "All six of us have copies of that picture." She swallowed hard. "It's one of the few pictures that we still have left from the fire."

"Oh," Logan paused, trying to think of a way to make the conversation more lighthearted. "You look just like your mom." He complimented. "Very pretty."

"I get that a lot," Rhuben started to swing their arms back and forth. "Everyone that knew our mom says that Riley and I looked just like her and the boys look just like our dad." She suddenly looked excited as she looked over at her boyfriend. "We got our musical talent from our dad," she smiled waned a little as she rolled her eyes. "And our sneakiness from our mom."

"Sneakiness?" Logan rubbed his chin. "I hadn't noticed." Rhuben rolled her eyes and shoved his shoulder. "You know what else I'm sure that you got from your mom?"

"No, but I'm pretty sure you're going to tell me anyway," Rhuben looked at him warily. "Just don't use too many big words, its bad enough that Sydney does it, I don't need it from you too." She warned.

"Deal," Logan replied, although he looked a little offended. "What I was going to say that I'm sure that you got from your mom is the way that you put others before yourself if you really care about them." He replied and stopped walking as he looked at her. "I mean, while you and your brothers were being hurt you and Riley would go out of your way to go and help them, while not worrying about yourselves first. And with all of our friends you're the same way."

Rhuben blushed and looked away, looking annoyed. Being her friend for a long time, Logan could tell that it was because she was embarrassed and still wasn't really used to him complimenting her so much. But it showed that no matter how happy Rhuben was, she could easily revert back to her old cold self, even if she didn't mean to do it.

Logan just chuckled and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her into his chest, as he kissed her forehead.

* * *

**A/N: Wow, I'm not that happy with the way that this chapter turned out, but I'm glad that I was able to crank out something. I'll most likely go back and edit this later. But I hope you guys thought the ending was cute.**

**So, I decided that the next chapters are going to have one pairing in it, this one has Lella, the next one Kiley, then Natie, and so on and so on and it goes from there as the story progresses. But it's also going to show how the Jacksons are friends with everyone else, but also focus on one of the Big Time Rush guys. It'll be hard, but I'm going to try my hardest to get all of them done the way that I want them to be done. You got a small look into what's going on with Carlos in the last two chapters, and now you have a small look with what's going on with Kendall in this chapter. Next up is James. I hope that you think that it coincides with their personalities well. I hope you guys are really enjoying the story and I swear that the next chapter will be put up sooner. I can't believe that my first semester as a college student is almost over already.**

**What would you guys like to see in this story? It's going to last a while so I'm willing to listen to everyone's suggestions.**

**-Riley**


	5. Big Time Contest Winners

**Chapter Five – Big Time Contest Winners**

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**"James, would it bother you at all IF I COULD HOLD YOUR ATTENTION FOR MORE THAN FIVE SECONDS?" Gustavo's shout caused James to turn away from the mirror and smile sheepishly as his friends glared at him.

They were practicing in the local dance studio for the concert that they were going to have in Salem, Oregon that night and had been in the studio since five o'clock. Unfortunately, the whole time that they had been in there, James had been constantly annoying all of the guys, Gustavo, and Kelly. Even though Kelly was usually the last one to show that she was annoyed with something that the guys did.

Instead of working on dance routines like he was supposed to be, he would stop and look at himself in the mirror, making sure that sweat wasn't messing up his hair, or flex his muscles and poke them, just to see if they had gotten any bigger than they had before. It caused them to stop so many times that they hadn't gone through a whole routine yet, and it was starting to get on everyone's nerves.

"Sorry Gustavo," James apologized, like he had done the last five times. But it wouldn't make a difference; everyone knew that he was going to start doing it again in the next five minutes.

"How can Jo date someone like that?" Carlos asked Kendall and Logan, pretending that James wasn't even there. "I mean, if I were a girl, which is a long stretch, I probably wouldn't date James either." He stated, causing Kendall and Logan to laugh.

"Oh come on, if you guys were girls, you would totally date me!" James declared with a smug smile.

"Why are we talking about this?" Logan questioned, his eye twitching ever so slightly.

"I am slightly creeped out" Kendall agreed with a half-smile.

"Ok guys, let's take a break," Kelly stated as she slapped a hand to her forehead before taking Gustavo's arm and pulling him aside. "Have you noticed that something weird is going on with these guys?" she questioned him quietly. Gustavo raised an eyebrow as he looked over at the four guys, who were now trying to see how much water Carlos could hold into his mouth at once.

"Not more than usual." He stated in reply.

"No," Kelly shook her head. "Listen, I may be overreaching here, and it may just be because I'm a woman and women have natural instincts to tell when something is bothering someone, but there _is_ something going on with these guys."

"Kelly," Gustavo placed a hand on Kelly's arm and started to speak in the tone that meant he was going to start trying to explain something to her that was going to end up in screaming. "There is nothing wrong with these guys, except for the fact that they may have a few screws lose. Besides, they're guys, and guys aren't always the smartest things in the world." Kelly looked at him with a raised eyebrow, trying not to smile. "And that last part came out totally wrong."

"Whatever you say Gustavo," Kelly sighed as she stared to look through her palm-pilot. "Now, we have the guys scheduled for a quick photo shoot before the concert, for a famous magazine around here. So I'm going to take them to get some food and let them rest for a while." She lowered her palm-pilot and glared a little as she poked him in the chest. "And _you_ have to go work on some new songs for the guys, because they can only do so much during their shows. And no goofing off, you have to get this done.

"Aww, that's not fair!" Gustavo cried whinging like a baby and then gestured over to the guys. "Why can't I have any fun? All I do is work!"

"Because you're an _adult_," Kelly replied s if it was obvious. "Besides, Ronan said that he could use some help for some songs for the Jacksons, and who knows if you two work together on a song and it becomes a hit, Griffin will leave you alone."

Gustavo thought about it for a second and Kelly could see that he was thinking about all of the times that Griffin had terrorized the two of them while they were working at Rocque Records. She was also the one that was stuck having to listen to Gustavo as he went on and on about his Griffin-mares. But she had to admit, Griffin, for whatever reason, seemed to be hounding only those two out of all of the people that work at Rocque Records.

"You're right," Gustavo stated loudly, grabbing the guys' attention. "If I can get them to have even better songs, then Griffin won't be able to harass me anymore!"

"What is Gustavo going on about?" Kendall asked as Kelly walked over to the four boys. "He looks like he's going to go bite someone's head off or something."

"If its Griffin then we don't have to worry about it," Kelly replied with a laugh. "Anyway, you guys are scheduled for a photo shoot before the concert tonight. But I'm going to bring you back to the hotel and get you guys something to eat and give you time to hang out and sleep before you go."

"Alright, cool." Logan smiled, happy that they're finally going to get a break from James' goofing off. "Thanks Kelly."

"First, I want to ask you guys something." Kelly stated, holding out her arms to keep them from moving. They looked back at her blankly as she scrutinized them. "Is there something bothering you guys? Because, even though you've been acting as…" she trailed off, trying to find a word that wouldn't offend them. "_Questionable_ as usual, you've all be acting kind of strange as well." She paused. "Well, not Logan."

"No, nothing's going on." Kendall replied as he went to put his hands into his pockets, but remembered that he was wearing sweats and just placed his hands on his hips.

"Not that I'm aware of," Carlos added as he bit his fingernails, avoiding her gaze.

"Everything's fine." James added with a big toothy-smile.

Kelly didn't believe that for a second, her intuition was telling her that there was something definitely bothering these guys, but she didn't want to annoy them by not trusting them and she knew that if there was really something going on, they would tell someone eventually. But she was still a little suspicious about it.

"Everything's fine," Logan replied, although he was a little confused. He hadn't noticed that there was anything wrong with his friends, and he was usually really perceptive. He started to wrack his brain, trying to figure out if the guys had been acting funny lately. Sure Kendall had acted a little funny when they were at the beach, but that had changed as the day went on.

Carlos has been weird the whole time that Logan had known him so there wasn't anything different going on there. The only thing that Logan had noticed as up with him was that he was the happiest that he had ever seen and knew that it was Stephanie that was causing him to be so happy. The two were in love and that could definitely change someone.

_Then again, being in love is big enough to change the person even if they don't believe in it. _Logan thought to himself with a small smile. _That's true with me and Bella at least…although she has never actually told me that she loved me back_. His smile faded a little bit and he shook his head.

Then James…well James was James. He was narcissistic at points and there were many times that he only cared about himself, and he had to admit that today he was being extremely selfish by messing up their dance practice, something that they really needed before the show that night. But that wasn't any different than the way he usually acted.

Logan looked at Kelly and shook his head again.

"If you're sure," Kelly replied before poking at something on her palm-pilot. "Alright, we have about half the day for you guys to relax, and I bet that you're anxiously waiting to get something to eat. So let's go." She turned and started to leave the boys out of the dance studio.

James grabbed his bag and followed his friends out of the dance studio. He felt bad for making his friends have to work harder than usual, but he couldn't help and go and constantly look into the mirror over and over again. He had been on numerous Big Time Rush fan sites the night before and read all of the comments that were on there. He noticed how many of them were about him and how many girls thought that he was the hottest one out of them all and he loved the attention, even if it was behind a computer screen. So that morning he had gone to the gym extra early and lifted weights and did push-ups like crazy.

He just wanted to stay in shape and if that was considered acting weird, then he didn't know what was normal.

_They wouldn't understand_ James thought to himself as he shook his head. _They don't have to worry about being the hot one, especially in the eye of the paparazzi and all of our fans. And if I'm going to have my own solo career one day, I'm going to need to work on my appearance now before I get too old._

_

* * *

_"Hey Ruby," Kendall leaned over the back of Riley's chair and kissed her cheek in greeting. "Hey guys." He added to her brothers and sister. The five of them were sitting in their hotel suite, looking through stacks of mail and packages that they got from fans. Even Julius was surprised to see that he received some gifts and he didn't perform any more. Kendall sat down on the floor next to Riley's chair and looked around the room with a smile.

It was nice to see how they were happy but for whatever reason he felt kind of jealous. There was Ronan, the proud father, albeit adoptive one, who was sitting at the desk, looking through e-mail and smiling over at his children as they freaked out over what gifts they got. Then there was Julius, the older protective brother that based his happiness on his brothers and sisters' happiness. Then there were the Jacksons who were smiling so much lately that it was hard for Kendall to remember that they had been unhappy at one point in their lives.

"Hey Kendall," Brittany greeted with a bright smile from where she was sitting on the armrest of Julius' chair, reading some of his mail with him. "Where are the other guys?"

"Yeah, Logan said that you guys were free for the rest of the day," Rhuben commented, pushing her glasses up her nose and then smiled wryly. "Don't tell me, Carlos got his head stuck in the sink again, right?"

"No," Kendall shook his head, although he was laughing a little bit. "James went to the gym…again," he made a face. "Carlos is snoring like a bear and Logan is brushing up on something smart that none of us care about." He concluded.

"Now you know how I feel." Rhuben laughed a little.

"Where are the other girls and WayneWayne?" Kendall asked as he looked around the suite. "Normally they're over here squealing about something in some sort of magazine. And I'm adding WayneWayne into that because he can act like a girl sometimes."

"They're sightseeing I think," Patrick replied as he reached for another piece of mail and started to rip open the envelope. "I don't know why," he added with a snort. "There's only so much that you can see before you think that every state is the same one." He looked up and grinned, his eyes twinkling. "Besides, I think that they're just trying to hit up every mall in every state just to satisfy their shopping needs."

"I heard that," Katie stated as she, Jo, Camille, and Stephanie walked into the suite. WayneWayne stumbled in behind them, carrying a mountain load of bags. "And not all of us go to the mall to go shopping, Patrick Jackson."

"Ooh, full name," Patrick stated sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. "I'm shaking." He then made a sound of fear as Katie glared over at him and latched onto Noah's side. "Noah, your girlfriend is threatening me!" he cried. "Save me!"

"If you're afraid of getting beat up by a girl, you shouldn't be allowed to be saved," Noah muttered in reply and then noticed that Katie's glare had then been turned to him. "No offense." He added quickly.

"What'd you guys do? Buy the whole mall?" Ronan asked as he closed his laptop and walked over to WayneWayne and grabbed a few of the bags, putting them on the ground. WayneWayne sighed loudly, dropping everything else onto the ground, collapsing to the floor.

"Thank you," he gasped, breathing heavily. "I had to carry all of that throughout the whole mall." He started to feebly wave his arms around. "Up and down all three floors and back and forth to hundreds of stores." He lay down on the ground, turned onto his side, and curled into a ball. "I don't know why I put up with it."

"Hmm," Camille crouched down next to him and raised an eyebrow, staring at him. "I wonder why." She stated darkly. WayneWayne looked up into Camille's face and smiled nervously.

"Did I sound like I was complaining?" WayneWayne asked as he struggled to get to his feet. "'Cause if it did, I didn't mean it. Really, I didn't." Camille laughed as WayneWayne grabbed onto her legs and started to pretend to sob. "Don't hurt me."

Stephanie looked down at WayneWayne, exchanged a glance with Jo, and then the two of them looked over at Camille with arms crossed over their chests and raise eyebrows. Camille smiled nervously in reply as she wrung her hands together.

"Ok," she stated slowly, as if trying to figure out what she wanted to say. "So maybe I've been running over lines a little too long." She gave a sheepish smile and shrugged. "My latest role is for a teenager that is always angry. And I _may_ have gotten stuck in character."

"_May have?_" WayneWayne leapt to his feet and looked at Camille as if she was crazy. "This was the girl that forcibly threw me over the couch to go along with her audition." He rubbed his arms. "If it wasn't for the breakaway furniture I could have-"he paused and turned his head when he noticed a basket filled with fruit. "Ooh, and edible arrangement I love those!" He grabbed the basket and started to eat a stick of grapes.

"But seriously, how much did you buy?" Ronan questioned, looking through the bags. "And where did you get the money for it?"

"Ronan you don't know these girls," Sydney added as he smiled over at his dad. "They can probably put any store they look at into bankruptcy. The only reason they by so much stuff if so they can look pretty while they're at our concerts, although they don't really need it." He added sweetly.

"You know while I was gone I had completely forgotten how much of a suck up you can be and how annoying it is." Julius commented and laughed as Brittany lightly hit him in the chest. "What?" He turned towards his girlfriend and widened his eyes. "I'm only teasing, he knows that."

"And as for the money, it's what we saved up from all the work that we've done." Jo replied and then crossed her arms over her chest, looking a little depressed. "But we haven't gotten many offers in the past couple of weeks."

"I know, I haven't sent off an audition tape in a while," Camille added.

"Do you guys want a job?" Julius questioned after a second of thought. "Steph, you could help Sydney with the filming that he does for some of our backstage stuff. Jo, you can help with setting up the musical equipment and helping Riley whenever they're doing scales and stuff." He made a face, twisting his mouth to the side as he thought. "And, Camille, you could…uh…"

"You could, be Sydney's babysitter?" Rhuben asked and then winced at how lame that sounded. "You know, because he can be a handful."

"I can?" Sydney raised his eyebrows. Patrick and Noah whipped their heads around and glared at him. "Oh, I mean, yeah," he started nodding like a bobble head. "I can be a very hard kid to babysit…" he trailed off his sentence making the same face that Julius had made.

"Wow that was _very_ convincing." Katie stated sarcastically.

"Katie!" Kendall snapped.

"No, its fine," Camille raised her hands. "I can see how being an actress isn't helpful, all I get stuck with is being a baby sitter, I mean, what fun could that be?"

"Hey!" Sydney planted his hands on his hips, looking offended.

"So are you saying you don't want the job?" Riley questioned, raising her eyebrows.

"Well, I didn't say that." Camille replied and smiled as everyone else laughed.

Ronan smiled as he picked up a large envelope that was addressed to him. His eyebrows furrowed together as he started to open the envelope. There was a knock on the door and he put the envelope in his mouth to open it. He pulled the door opened and smiled when he saw Mrs. Knight standing in the doorway.

"Having a little trouble with that letter?" she asked as she raised an eyebrow, her eyes looking down at the envelope and then up to his face.

Ronan's eyes darted back and forth as he opened his mouth and dropped the envelope into his open palm, moving backwards so she could enter the suite. "Yeah, just a little." He replied and muttered a curse to himself as he closed the door. "What brings you by? If it was any of the noise it wasn't my fault, it was them!" He pointed over at Patrick and Noah, who were at that moment, fighting with WayneWayne over the edible arrangement basket. "And they just had to choose _right now_ to look like a bunch of idiots."

"It's not that I'm not used to it," Mrs. Knight replied as she laughed. "I've seen Kendal land his friends do worse, so I'm kind of immune to it." She looked serious. "But I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Really," Ronan crossed his arms over his chest and studied her expression. "Obvious this has been bothering you for a while. What's up?"

"Uh," Mrs. Knight looked like she really wanted to say something, but then sighed heavily, looking over at her son and daughter who were reading some of the Jacksons' fan-mail. "It's not really that important, we can just talk later."

"Are you sure?" Ronan asked, slowly starting to move away. Mrs. Knight nodded, placing her purse onto the ground. "Ok, if you're sure." The two walked back over to the group of teenagers and pulled open the large envelope again. He smiled after he read it really fast. "Cool, hey guys, we have your contest winners. You're going to be performing for St. Helens High School's homecoming in two days."

"What Contest?" Sydney questioned, wrinkling his nose. Ronan stared at him for a second, as if trying to figure out whether or not he was joking. Finally, he rubbed his forehead and started speaking slowly, to remind him about it.

"The one that you advertised in PopTiger saying that whichever high school won you would perform at their homecoming dance on the 26th of October." He looked at his watch. "Which is in two days, like I said before."

"Ok," Rhuben nodded and then narrowed her eyes. "What's a Homecoming?"

"You've never been to Homecoming?" Kendall, Jo, Camille, Stephanie, and WayneWayne shouted in unison, causing everyone else to wince at their tone.

"We don't have Homecoming in Australia," Patrick explained, his accent showing through as he said it. There were times that people would forget that he is a native of Australia, because he could easily change accents back and forth whenever he pleased. "In fact, we don't have many dances back there."

"They only have this one big dance when you're done with your schooling," Riley added, bringing her feet up underneath her. She frowned. "Come to think of it, I don't think we've ever been to a dance, even while in LA. All we've ever gone to was parties."

"And to think that the first time that we can go to one, we're going to be performing all night long." Noah added, sounding grumpy. He thought for a second and then sat up, looking right at Katie. "Do you want to be my date?"

"What?" Katie blinked and blushed a little bit.

"Well you _could _go with Patrick_," _Noah continued and blushed a little himself as he shuffled his feet. "But I wouldn't think that you would have as much fun." He bit his lower lip as he waited for an answer. Sure there were times where he was confident in himself, but that was usually only when he was onstage or it was in the light of a performance, but he always went back to his shy self.

"Being handsome is better than having fun." Patrick replied, sticking his tongue out. "Wait," he rubbed his chin, looking annoyed when he realized that he had just made fun of himself.

"Uh, sure Noah, that sounds fun." Katie smiled and nodded in reply.

"Aww, Katie has her first date," Kendall stated and reached over and pinched her cheek. "Mom's little baby is growing up." He stated and quickly backed out of the way as Mrs. Knight swooped down on her daughter and started to rock her back and forth, squealing about Katie's first date, causing Noah to blush even harder.

"Nice job Hockey-Head, I'm sure that your sister really loves you now." Riley commented, looking down at her boyfriend.

"I try," Kendall smiled in reply and then turned towards Riley, looking at her seriously. "Were you serious when you said that you had never been to a dance before? Not even one when you were a freshman?"

"When I was a freshman I was still homeschooled," Riley replied as she pulled her glasses off of her nose and rubbed the lens on the bottom of her shirt, avoiding his gaze. "So no, I didn't go to a dance. I don't even really know how dances work except for what I have seen in movies." She slid her glasses back on and looked over at him. "From what I can understand, there's always some sort of drama that goes on, some girl starts to cry, and at the end everything works our perfectly."

"Well, I don't know about that," Kendall raised himself to his knees so he was at Riley's height. "But I would be glad if you agreed to be my date for the dance. So I can show you how it really goes down in America."

"Has anyone ever told you that your speeches are really, really cheesy?" Riley questioned.

"I've heard that before," Kendall replied and then smiled. "So, will you be my date?"

"Well, since you didn't assume that I would say yes this time, sure." Riley replied and smiled as Kendall leaned forward and kissed her.

* * *

**A/N: And here's the little peek into what is going on with James, while continuing with what is happening with Kendall. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. I tried to show more with Kelly and Gustavo in this one. The next chapter is going to be with the Homecoming Dance that the Jacksons perform at and it will have Natie, Jameo, Julany, and will show more with the adults. After this, the chapters get drama filled and angsty; I just wanted a few chapters that held a bit of humor and the good side of their friendship. And is something going on with Ronan and Mrs. Knight?**

**Just so you know, I'm not going to show what happens at concerts in every chapter, that would take away from the story plot and would slightly slow down the process of the story. But there's a lot of good stuff coming up and I'll try and update soon. Also the Homecoming dance is a crucial point for the story as it continues, just so you keep that in mind. :)  
**

**Cheers,**

**Riley**

**PS - If you would like to appear in the next chap of the story, leave your name and physical description :)  
**


	6. Big Time Homecoming

**Chapter Six – Big Time Homecoming**

**

* * *

**Hey, aren't you guys ready to go?" Ronan asked as he walked out into the sitting area for the Jacksons' sweet, tying a tie around his neck. Julius and Brittany looked up from whatever show they were watching on TV and stared at him. "What?" he questioned. "You're looking at me as if I grew a second head."

"You may as well have," Julius replied as he grabbed the remote and muted the TV. "Why would we go to a high school homecoming dance when we're in college?"

"Gee, I don't know," Ronan replied with a sarcastic edge to his voice. "To help with stage setup and what not for your brothers and sisters?"

"Yeah, you could really help make this one of our better performances." Sydney stated as he walked out of one of the three bedrooms in their suite. He held a vest in his hands as he walked, sliding it over his arms. When he got it done, he walked over to Julius and turned around so he could tie the back of it.

"You say that each and every time you want me to be somewhere when you're doing a performance," Julius pointed out as he quickly tied the back of Sydney's vest. "Unfortunately for you, it's not going to work this time." Julius laughed as Sydney turned back around and looked at him, his eyes wide and his lower lip trembling. "The eyes aren't going to work this time either."

"Darn it, it usually works." Sydney pouted as he pulled his lip back.

Ronan laughed as he finished putting on his jacket. "Where are Patrick and Noah?" he questioned as he looked around, as if expecting them to appear out of thin air. With the Jacksons around, you can never be too careful as to when they would jump out trying to scare you.

"Still getting ready," Sydney replied as he squeezed onto the couch in between Julius and Brittany. "You know how those two are, they can be as bad as RI-Ri and Rhu-Rhu sometimes."

"I'll go see what's taking your sisters so long." Brittany stated and kissed Julius' cheek before disappearing into the other bedroom.

"So why don't you want to come tonight?" Sydney asked as he looked at his brother seriously. "I can tell that you're hiding something." He stood up on the couch and looked down at his oldest brother. "You and I have the same eyes you know." He got close to his brother's face, so they were almost nose to nose.

Julius laughed and placed a hand over his brother's face, pushing him away. "Newsflash, Little Man, we all have the same eyes," he explained quickly. "You know, because we're all directly related to each other."

"Yeah, but who knows," Sydney shrugged his shoulders. "We could have gotten brown eyes from our mom instead of blue eyes from our dad."

"Good point," Julius muttered. "Anyone ever tell you you're too smart?" he grabbed a pillow off of the couch and hit Sydney over the head with it, causing his brother to stumble. Sydney giggled and grabbed the pillow, throwing it back into his brother's face.

"All the time," he replied cheekily. "And I never get tired of hearing it." He stood up again. "Un-mute the TV I want to watch something." He reached towards the remote, his fingers wiggling. Julius moved it to his other hand and held it away from Sydney as far as he could.

"No way, Midget," Julius replied. "I had the remote first, Brittany and I was watching here first, and you're the one that's going to be late to the dance if you don't leave soon." He added as Sydney tried to climb over his chest. "There's no way that you're gonna get the remote."

"Please?" Sydney made a grunting sound as Julius lifted his other hand that was under Sydney's chest and lower stomach and rose him up over him.

Ronan laughed and reached for Ronan's camera to take a picture. He was glad that Julius was there for a few reasons. One; because every now and then it gave Ronan time to relax and get away from all of the pranks and inevitable trouble that the Jacksons got into. Two; it helped me take some time to himself when there was some stuff that he couldn't get done at work and knew that Julius would be able to help him get it done faster. Three; because it made all of the experiences that he had with his kids, which he could now safely are his kids, that much better.

Ronan had always known that he wanted kids and he felt that it was happening when he first met the Jacksons. As he worked with them on their CDs and whatever music they wanted to put out, he watched as they grew up and got to grow to love them as they were his own family, so it made him heart broken when he found out that they were being abused.

Now the only problem that he had, according to Riley and Rhuben, was that he didn't have a girlfriend that would eventually become his wife, so they could have a complete family. But Ronan always laughed it off, saying that he didn't need a girlfriend because all six of them would most likely scare her away.

He was happy the way that life was going so far and knew that he didn't want it to end any time soon. Although it was still hard to get used to the fact that his life was much louder than it used to be.

"HEY GUYS, HURRY UP, WE GOTTA GO!" Ronan shouted after h looked at his watch.

"Sorry, Sorry." Noah apologized in his quiet voice as he and Patrick hurried out of the room, jumping up and down as they tried to finish tying their shoes.

"We were having a little trouble deciding what to wear." Patrick added, his voice muffled as he had a piece of his shoelace in-between his teeth and was trying to tie it while hunched over. Noah snorted as he finished tying his shoes.

"You mean you were having trouble deciding what to wear," he pointed out. "I just went along with what Riley picked out for me," Noah stated and then turned to his brother with a raised eyebrow. "Which is what you were supposed to do."

"I know that, boofhead" Patrick finally opened his mouth to let go of the shoelace and bent down to tie his shoes quickly. "But I was trying to find a way that made me have my style," he stood up and moved his tie from around his shoulders. "Instead of looking like you." He whipped the tie at his brother's face.

"Both of you knock it off," Rhuben stated firmly as she and Riley walked out of their room. "If you want to kill each other, make sure it's after the show, that way we'll be sure to have time to replace you." She smiled as Patrick and Noah turned to her and glared. "I'm kidding." She pulled Noah into her side in a one-armed hug. "About you," she whispered into his ear. "I'm not kidding about Patrick."

Noah laughed as Patrick eyed them suspiciously.

"You two look great," Brittany stated with a warm smile directed towards Riley and Rhuben.

"Are you talking to us or them?" Patrick asked with a cheesy smile.

"Them," Brittany replied and laughed at the deflated expression on Patrick's face, as it seemed that everyone was making fun of him that day. "Seriously, the idea of getting tuxedo dresses is probably the best idea that you could have for dressing up." She added as she smiled and nodded.

Julius got up from the couch and stood next to Brittany as he looked at his twin sister's up and down with a critical eye. Finally he placed a hand on his hip and tilted his head to the side. "Don't you think those dresses are a little short?" he asked, causing Riley and Rhuben to groan.

"Not again." Rhuben stated as she shook her head.

"Julius, you do this each and every time that we have to get dressed up for something." Riley stated as she crossed her arms over her chest. "You're just becoming all paranoid and over protective again." She added as she shook her head and spoke to Brittany. "He gets _really_ nervous when it comes to Rhu and me dating."

"I heard that." Julius stated and rolled his eyes when Riley replied saying that he should have as she said it out loud. "And there is no problem wanting to make sure that you guys don't get reporters or paparazzi putting hurtful things in the tabloids."

"Right, I'm sure that's what you're worried about." Riley stated as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Ooh, putting your hands on your hips," Julius stated mockingly. "I can put my hands on my hips too you know." He added as he did so. "Why are you always so stubborn?"

Riley and Julius started to argue loudly, not caring whether or not the other one was listening to what they had to say. The others watched as they waved their arms around violently and raised or lowered their voices to sound like each other mockingly.

Sydney noticed the odd expression on Brittany's face and smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry," he stated simply. "You'll get used to it."

"Right, I'm sure that's what she wants to hear when it comes to her marrying into our family." Ronan replied sarcastically as he lifted Rhuben's camera up to his eye again. "So much for a happy homecoming." He shook his head and zoomed out so he could get everyone I the picture, even the fighting Julius and Riley. "Smile." He took the picture.

"Fine!" Julius snapped as he waved his hands into the air before turning to Brittany. "If you have any fancy dress with you go head and put it on, we're going to the stupid dance!" He declared and stomped into Patrick, Noah, and Sydney's room and closed the door behind him.

"Wow," Brittany remarked, laughing as she turned to Rhuben. "You were right; I didn't really think that to get Julius to do something all you have to do is trick him in the simplest way possible." She shook her head. "I'm going to have to try that myself.

"I told you," Rhuben stated as she rubbed her fingernails on her dress. "You can't beat the master; I've been doing that to him for years. It's the only way that I was able to get his PS2 when he left for college."

"Good to know." Brittany laughed and went into Riley's and Rhuben's rooms to get changed.

"If you could make this fast," Ronan called as he looked at his watch again. "We don't have much time before the limos leave."

"You've been acting really funny tonight, Ronan." Patrick remarked as he turned to his father, running his fingers through his hair to make sure that his spikes were sitting up straight. "Are you ok? You seem to be in more of a rush than usual."

"Me?" Ronan looked over at Patrick as if he had just heard him start speaking. "No, I'm fine." He looked at his watch again. "But you know me, other than working on your guys' music and making sure you're happy, nothing makes me more anxious than how your fans perceive you."

"They were helpful when we were going over this whole abuse thing," Sydney reminded him quietly, lightly tugging at his tie. "We'll be fine. It's nothing compared to that."

"Right." Ronan agreed shortly. "Alright, so we just have to get the other guys and go."

"Hold up," Riley stated and went back into her room for a second before coming back out with five black fedoras. "We usually have something in common with what we wear when it comes to our performances, so I thought these would help." She explained as she passed them out to her siblings.

"This wouldn't have something to do with Kendall's fedora obsession would it?" Noah asked as he peered at his sister suspiciously.

"No," Riley replied after a second and placed a hand over his face, pushing him towards the door. "Now let's go."

* * *

"James, did you have to take _two hours_ on your hair?" Carlos asked as he, WayneWayne, James, Kendall, and Logan practically sprinted through the hotel to get down to the lobby. "The girls are going to kill us for being late and you know that Katie definitely will if Riley and Rhuben don't."

"I'm sorry, but you can't expect perfection to happen in only two swipes of a brush though this," James replied as he patted his head. "It's not possible."

"Yeah, but is it worth it knowing that you could have potentially just signed all of our death wishes?" WayneWayne asked as he pressed the call button for elevator at least ten times in five seconds. "I mean, for whatever reason, dances are really important to girls, even insignificant little ones like homecoming." He shifted the corsage that he got for Camille back and forth in his hands. "And they can get a little high maintenance with them."

"You better make sure that Camille never hears you say that," Logan stated as he gave his friend a long look. He moved forward and held out an arm to make sure the elevator doors didn't close as his friends got on. "I mean, I know you've known her for a long time, but she can use any sort of her numerous acting jobs against you."

"Trust me; I've learned that the hard way." WayneWayne replied and coughed as James took a can of hair spray from his pocket and started to spray it into the air.

"Dude, you're going to make us die in here!" Carlos cried as he held his breath. "And trust me when I say that this is so NOT the way that I wanted to go." He added, looking mad.

"Knock it off with the hairspray," Kendall added as he tried to wave the massive cloud out of the tiny space.

"It's not _hair spray_," James replied, rolling his eyes at his friends' ignorance. "It's Cuda massive hold, maximum strength, that way if I sweat, or it there's some kind of freak wind, nothing will be able to make my hair move." He grinned and ran his hand over his hair to prove how well it would hold.

"Seriously, you care way too much about your looks," WayneWayne remarked and pressed the button marked 'Door Close'.

"We've been telling him that for years," Logan remarked as he held his hands in front of him, waiting for the doors to close and for the elevator to go down. "Maybe you or Jo can finally get him to understand what being vain means."

"I'll try," WayneWayne laughed. "But I'm not making any promises."

"HOLD THE DOOR!"

Kendal land WayneWayne jumped forward and grabbed the doors that were starting to close and forced them open to see who it was that was calling for them. When they sat that it was Gustavo, Carlos shrieked and started yelling at them to close to doors. Kendall and WayneWayne tried to force them together, but Gustavo grabbed onto the doors and pulled them apart so fast Kendall and WayneWayne went flying into opposite sides of the elevator.

"Didn't you dogs hear me calling you?" Gustavo demanded as he and Kelly got into the elevator.

"No, we thought it was _someone else_ with a very _loud _voice!" Logan replied as he rolled his eyes.

"Now I understand why you guys are also so scared to go to Rocque Records every day." WayneWayne stated with a shocked expression on his face as he got up from the ground of the elevator.

"Did you really think that we were making that ups?" Kendall asked as he got to his feet also and dusted off his clothes.

"Exaggerating a little-"

"IF YOU DOGS ARE DONE TALKING ABOUT ME AS IF I'M NOT HERE!" Gustavo shouted, getting their attention. "We have to hurry and I need your guys' advice." He stated as the doors closed and they started their long descent down to the lobby.

"Our advice?" James repeated, taking a step away. "About what? How to crush us in a different way instead of getting freight train to do it when we do something wrong?"

"Dude," Carlos grabbed onto James' shoulder and shook him. "Don't give him any ideas."

"What advice do you need?" Logan asked patiently, his eyes shifting upwards towards the panel that said what floor they were on. He mentally groaned when he saw the 11th floor flash onto the screen. _Ten more_.

"I need to know what I should give Kelly for the dance," Gustavo replied and faced forward, so he didn't have to look at the boys, who all raised eyebrows and traded odd looks. "We're not exactly dates or anything, but we are going together and I know that you guys are good at this kind of thing." He finally turned around and raised an eyebrow when he saw that they were all staring back at him. "What?"

"Don't you think that you're a little too old to-"WayneWayne elbowed Carlos in the side, getting him to shut up. "That really hurts you know!" he snapped.

"That's the idea!" WayneWayne snapped back, elbowing him again.

"Um," Kendall bit his lower lip as he turned to his friends, who looked back at him, letting him know that he was going to have to deal with this. "Why don't you get her some flowers? A corsage or a bouquet is the best way to go." He suggested. "Or you could get her some-"

"Thanks for the idea, Kendall!" Gustavo interrupted and grabbed the bouquet of flowers out of his hand. "These will do great." He slapped Kendall so hard on the back that he crashed into the side of the elevator. "You really know what you're doing with girls!"

"Not as good as me," James remarked and blew on his finger nails before polishing them on his shirt.

"No, those are for-"Kendall was the one that received a hit in the side by WayneWayne this time. He looked over at WayneWayne and James, who were shaking their heads and their hands, mouthing for him to stop talking. He sighed heavily and gritted his teeth. "I'm glad that you like them Gustavo, I'm sure that Kelly will love them." He grabbed onto Logan's jacket and pulled him into his side. "Now what am I going to do?"

"Luckily I thought ahead, just in case something happened." Logan stated as he handed the purple corsage hat he got for Rhuben to Kendall and started to dig on the inside pocket of his jacket. "Because knowing you, James, or Carlos, you would have done something wrong, so I got an extra corsage." He pulled out a red rose corsage. "Lucky for you its red."

"Thanks Logie!" Kendall took the corsage from him and handed it back and then slapped his fired on the back before giving him a hug. "You're a life saver, you know that!"

Logan grinned and allowed himself to be congratulated. "Why do you think I want to be a doctor?" he joked and patted Kendall on the arm. "It's no problem." He then turned and saw WayneWayne sitting in the corner of the elevator. "What are you doing?"

"Didn't you feel the car rock when Kendall smacked into the side of the elevator?" WayneWayne hissed as he motioned to Gustavo. "That wouldn't have happened when it was just us in here and I'm taking any chances!"

Logan laughed and shook his head, knowing that his friend still had a lot to get used to when it came to dealing with Gustavo. He took a breath and tried to shake off the nerves that were starting to get to him.

_I don't even know why I'm nervous_ Logan thought to himself, feeling a wave of sweat rush under his arms. _I mean, it's not like we haven't kissed or gone to anything as dates before. She's my girlfriend, why should this be any different than anything else that we've done?_

"Dude, you ok?" James asked as he looked at his friend. "You're twitching kinda funny." He grinned, as if he suddenly understood what was going on. "You're nervous aren't you?" he put his arm around Logan's shoulders. "No need to be nervous, just because you aren't dressed as well as I am and just because you're not such a good dancer doesn't mean that Rhu is going to laugh at you."

_Wow, he is __horrible__ when it comes to giving pep talks_ Logan rolled his eyes. _Almost as bad as Carlos_. He just shook his head and forced a smile and waited until the elevator doors opened at the lobby to shake himself loose of the thought.

"Finally!" Katie cried as the guys walked into the lobby. She had her arms crossed her over chest and was tapping her foot. She was standing with Jo, Camille, Stephanie, Mrs. Knight, and Kelly. "I never knew that you guys could take so long to get ready for a stupid dance!"

"What are you wearing?" Kendall demanded as he moved over to his sister, looking her up and down. "Don't' you think that that dress is a little too short?"

"Relax big bro." Katie rolled her eyes. "Mom picked it out for me." She crossed her arms over her chest. "And it's long enough!" she snapped. "You're getting way too overprotective again, I'm thirteen, and I can wear whatever dress I want!"

"Over my dead body!"

"That can be arranged!"

"I'm guessing that I can blame James, right?" Jo remarked, ignoring Kendall's and Katie's arguing, as she tilted her head and looked over at her boyfriend with a critical eye. "And if I'm not mistaken, it was because of him trying to get his hair to be perfect."

"Exactly." Carlos replied with a roll of his eyes before grabbing Stephanie into his arms and giving her a big hug and kiss on the cheek. "Hey beautiful." He greeted and pulled the yellow corsage out from behind his back. "This is for you."

"Thanks, Carlos." Stephanie grinned as he opened the plastic box and put the flower on her wrist. "I'm apologizing in advance if I accidentally poke you with this boutonniere."

"That's ok," Carlos grinned. "That might actually be kind of cool; I could start a new fad. Boutonniere's that are already on you, that way you don't have to keep buying them."

"You're cute." Stephanie smiled as she took a step back and smiled at her boyfriend, before being nearly blinded by Mrs. Knight's camera flash. "Wow, that's bright." She remarked.

"Sorry about that." Kendall and Katie apologized in unison, looking a little embarrassed.

"Uh, James?" Jo asked as politely as she could as James slid her corsage onto her wrist. "Don't you think that your hair is a little too crunchy?" she asked as she poked James' hair. He reached up and pulled her hand away before pulling out a small mirror to make sure his hair was still in shape. "How much hair spray did you use?"

"A whole can of Cuda massive hold." James replied with a grin.

Jo raised an eyebrow as she twirled his boutonniere around in her hands. "Don't you think that's a little too much? Because personally I like your hair natural and without all of that goop and hair spray in it." She smiled warmly as she took a step closer to him.

"I'm sure that you do," James replied with a nod. "But my fans like my hair perfect and not out of place, and I don't want to disappoint them." Jo's smile faded slightly as she let out a breath and moved forward to put on his boutonniere. He noticed immediately. "What's wrong?" he questioned as he placed a finger under her chin and tilted her head up.

"Nothing," Jo replied. "I think it's nice that you care about your fans so much." Her lips curled into a smile. "That's one of the things that I like about you."

"What are the other things?" James asked, looking kind of worried. Jo smiled and stood on her tip-toes, kissing him sweetly. James opened his eyes when she pulled away, the worried expression still on his face. "Is that it?"

"You'll find out," Jo replied, laughing a little. "But it's nothing bad, don't worry about it."

Over with WayneWayne and Camille, things were kind of awkward with them, as they hadn't ever been to a dance with each other and they had only recently started dating each other.

"Here you go," WayneWayne stated nervously, his hand shakings as he held the corsage out to Camille, not knowing that he was supposed to put it on for her.

"Thanks," Camille smiled as she took the plastic box and then looked up at him through the bangs she put in her hair, shyly. "This is for you." She handed him his boutonniere and put on her own corsage. "I wasn't sure what color you would want, so I went ahead and just got a white one."

"That's fine," WayneWayne smiled as he looked down at the boutonniere and then up at his girlfriend before putting his hands back at his side, they were still shaking, betraying how nervous he actually was. "So," he rubbed his neck. "Um-"

"Wally," Camille reached out a hand and placed it on WayneWayne's shoulder. "You don't have to be nervous, this is just a dance, where we're going to be hanging out with our friends and listening to them perform." She looked thoughtful. "If you think about it, it'll be just like going to another one of their concerts, but in a high school."

"Good point." WayneWayne smiled in agreement and took a deep breath. "Alright, I'll try to calm down. But I'm warning you," he held up a finger. "That if you ask me to dance, I'm not a very good dancer, and I have, like, two left feet."

"That's just because you're a guy." Camille remarked.

Kelly watched the couples with a bright smile on her face as she talked to Mrs. Knight. "Don't they all look so nice?" she asked, before blinking rapidly when Mrs. Knight accidentally flashed the camera in her face.

"Sorry Kelly, what did you say?" Mrs. Knight asked as she lowered her camera.

"I said that everybody looks nice tonight," Kelly replied as she rubbed her eyes. "But I wouldn't know anymore because I've been temporarily _blinded_."

"I didn't think that the flash was that bright." Mrs. Knight remarked and lowered her camera, frowning as she looked it over. "But I have to agree with you, everyone looks so-"she brought the camera up to her face again, to check to see if she could change the settings on the flash and accidentally set it off in Gustavo's face.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" He shouted, waving the flowers around and hitting Kelly in the face and knocking her onto the floor. He looked down at her and then shoved the flowers into her face. "Oh there you are Kelly, these are for you."

"Why the daisies?" Kelly asked as she took them and got to her feet, looking at Gustavo with an odd expression on her face. "You know I'm all…all…ACHOO!" She sneezed loudly, causing the flowers to fly around everywhere. "Allergic to daisies." She finished pathetically.

Kendall smirked knowing that Gustavo had just gotten what he deserved for having stolen the bouquet from him in the first place. He turned around when he heard the distant sound of someone arguing, and wasn't surprised when he saw Patrick and Sydney arguing about something. If the Jacksons weren't pranking someone, working on their music, or just having fun, they were arguing about something.

"What are they arguing about this time?" Logan asked as he turned to Rhuben who was rubbing her temples as well as her eyes.

"Who looks better," she replied simply. "There's no point in ever arguing with Patrick about it, because even if he looks like a dill he'll say he's the better looking one." She moved forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek as well as a hug. "You look great."

"Thanks," Logan beamed as he gave her her corsage. "So do you." He looked at her and then at her brothers and sister. "I like the whole tuxedo thing you guys have going on."

"Thanks, it was my idea," Rhuben replied with a sly smile. "A way for Riles and me to dress up without having to dress up."

"Nice." Logan grinned and the two stood close to each other as Mrs. Knight went and took a picture of the two of them.

"You look nice, Katie." Noah stated shyly as he walked over to her. "I really like your dress." His face turned red as Katie smiled appreciatively. He looked away. "I'm going to sound girly for saying this, but I like the way it matches your eyes."

"Thank You," Katie blushed a little herself. "Um," she rubbed her arm. "You look awesome too." She didn't understand why she was suddenly so nervous around him. Probably because they weren't officially boyfriend and girlfriend, and because she hadn't been to a dance before. "Sorry I don't have a boutonniere for you-"

"That's fine," Noah replied quickly. "I don't really like those things anyway," he said all in one breath. "I always have to worry about them falling off if I'm dancing or something."

Kendall smiled as he walked over to Riley and gave her a hug and a kiss before giving her her corsage. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I was going to give you a bouquet of flowers but Gustavo took them from me and I was going to actually pick you up from your room, but James was taking too long."

"That's fine," Riley replied as she pinned a boutonniere onto Kendall's lapel. "Patrick and Noah were taking even longer and then we had to get Julius and Brittany dressed." She added as she motioned over to her brother, his girlfriend, and her dad.

"I thought they weren't coming." Kendall replied, looking confused.

"They weren't," Riley replied and smiled a little. "I remembered that Julius hadn't gone to many dances when he was in school so I tricked them into going."

"Being evil just to make someone happy," Kendall nodded as he smiled. "I like that about you." He stated and kissed her cheek. "Amongst many other things."

"And you can tell her them later," Sydney stated as he placed his hands on Riley's lower back and started to push her forward. "But we're going to be late and we have to meet the contest winner before the dance even starts."

"You just want to get the window seat in the limo." Julius laughed as he ruffled his brother's hair.

"Exactly."

* * *

"Oh my gosh, I can't believe that I'm actually meeting you guys." The contest winner Mandy Richardson declared, her hazel eyes shining. "I seriously can't believe that you're going to be playing at our homecoming."

"Well you were the contest winner," Patrick reminded her with a warm smile as he shifted to get comfortable. He and his brothers and sisters were sitting at the edge of the stage, waiting for the dance to start. They all had gotten there early to make sure that they could uphold their promise of meeting the contest winner before everyone else. "And we do always hold our promises."

"And that also means that you get to choose which song we perform first." Sydney added. "Which do you want? A dance song or a song where we use our instruments?" He threw his hands into the air. "The sky's the limit. We'll even do covers if you want."

"Um," Mandy rubbed her chin as she thought.

"By the way," Riley spoke up. "I really like your dress, where'd you get it?" she asked, pointing to the red, black, and white polka-dotted dress that she was wearing. Next to her, Rhuben nodded in agreement.

"You look really pretty." Sydney added.

"Oh," Mandy blushed in excitement. "Thank you. I got it from Ross."

"Nice and affordable" Rhuben commented.

"You guys are awesome, you know that!" Mandy stated as she grinned. "You're always so nice and willing to talk to everybody that you meet."

"I don't really think so," Noah contradicted with a wave of his hand. "We're actually pretty boring."

Ronan smiled as he watched his kids talk with the contest winner. He had heard what she had said and almost laughed at Patrick's response. There was no way that they were boring, his life had been anything but boring ever since he had met them.

"What are you thinking about?" Mrs. Knight asked as she, Kelly, and Gustavo walked over to him. "You have a funny look on your face.

"I was just thinking." Ronan replied with a half smile. "About how I don't think I'm ever going to get any rest until all of them move out."

"Just kick them out if you're so tired of them!" Gustavo replied gruffly.

"He can't do that," Mrs. Knight stated as Kelly elbowed him in the side. "Besides, we all know that everything will be much quieter when Julius and Brittany get married and Riley and Rhuben go off to college," she paused. "If they decide to that is."

"When is the wedding?" Kelly stated as she turned to Ronan and looked at him pointedly. "We all better be invited."

"Of course you are," Ronan stated as he rolled his eyes, stirring the cup of punch that he held in his hand. "But at this point I don't really care when they get married, they're happy with each other and that's all I could want for Julius since he hasn't had much of a good life either." He looked over at Julius, who was dancing with his fiancé to the pre-recorded music that was already playing throughout the gym of the high school. "To be honest, I didn't think that Julius would like me when he first met me."

"What do you mean?" Mrs. Knight had an odd expression on his face and Ronan made a mental note to ask her about it later. "He should be happy that he has a new father that cares about him so much." She shifted nervously.

"It's not that," Ronan replied, shaking his head. "It's the fact that he had been away from his brothers and sisters so long and they weren't that happy to meet me when they first met me because they are really careful of their career," he explained. "But when I first met Julius, I was worried that he would be as suspicious as they were, and not like me at all, because it took them a while to come around. But when I first met Julius, he greeted me with a bright smile and a lot of happiness."

"He's always like that," Kelly remarked. "I noticed when he first met me that he treated me like he was already a part of my family or something."

"And he _has_ always been like hat," Ronan agreed. "I just thought that he would feel like he was being put out of his usual place of having to look after them when they're dad was still around. But he was the one that encouraged me to try and adopt all of them in the first place."

"He reminds me of Kendall," Mrs. Knight replied wistfully. "He's always friendly when it comes to meeting new people and only gets mad when he feels that someone is threatening something his friends or family."

"Exactly." Ronan agreed.

"He always gets that way when it comes to music too," Kelly agreed and motioned over to Gustavo. "Whenever Gustavo is yelling at the guys, no matter how much it helps them, Kendall is always the first one to stand up and defend his friends."

Kelly, Mrs. Knight, and Ronan turned to Gustavo, who was eating a bunch of chips and salsa off of a plate, obviously not paying attention to what they were saying.

"You know, I often wonder how Gustavo gets anything done if he's just eating most of the time." Ronan remarked as he tilted his head to the side.

"I've wondered the same thing, ever since I first started working for him." Kelly stated as she shook her head. She turned towards the entrance to the gym as teenagers started to pour into the room. "Looks like we have to start working." She grabbed onto Gustavo's arm and took his plate from him. "Come on, you can eat later."

"Ronan," Mrs. Knight grabbed onto his arm as he started to follow the two of them. He turned and looked at Mrs. Knight with raised eyebrows as she opened and closed her mouth, trying to say something.

"What is it, Kacy?" he questioned gently.

"I need to talk to you about something." She replied after letting out a sigh so heavy, that it seemed to come from her feet and on out of her mouth. "It's really important."

"Right now?" Ronan looked surprised as he motioned over to the stage. "We have to work and-"

"Yes, now."

"Alright."

Ronan followed Mrs. Knight out of the gym as the Jacksons got up from the edge of the stage to get ready. Kendall, James, Carlos, Logan, Jo, Stephanie, Camille, WayneWayne, Katie, Julius, and Brittany walked over towards the stage, greeting students and took pictures with them as well.

"Hey St. Helen's how are you doing tonight?" Patrick asked into his headmics, smiling as the audience cheered in excitement, camera flashing going off left and right. "That's good, that's good. Anyway, we're glad to be here tonight, and you can thank Mandy Richardson for this, because she's the winner of the contest." He paused as a spotlight shone on Mandy. "And because she won, she was able to choose the first song we performed and we're going to do a cover of the NSync song, Pop."

"Um," WayneWayne rubbed his chin. "How are Riley and Rhuben going to dance to this song in dresses?"

"Trust me, I wanted to know the same thing." James replied with a smile, causing Jo to elbow him in the side. "Ow! I was just kidding!"

"Oh," Julius spoke up. "They wear shorts under their dresses." He explained as quickly as he could as his siblings set up. "There was this thing that happened with the Veronicas back in Australia. One performance they did there was a crotch shot because they weren't wearing shorts under their dresses when they were dancing around on stage. So long story short, they make sure that they're wearing leggings or shorts of some kind."

"That was a good idea," Brittany agreed. "I can't even tell you how many times we had a problem with that back when we were in high school." She smiled as Julius burst out laughing. "Especially with our dance team."

"Well, I can honestly say that you caught my attention when you were on the dance team." Julius remarked and laughed as Brittany hit his arm. "I'm kidding, babe." He kissed her cheek and she blushed a little.

"Aww," Stephanie gushed as she wrapped her arms around Carlos. "Isn't that sweet."

"Yeah, so sweet it's giving me a cavity." Katie remarked, although she was smiling as well as her friends were.

"Ok guys, here we go!" Rhuben stated into her head-mic and listened as the background music started to play as they all moved into their 'V' formation, with Riley at the front instead of Sydney this time.

"Sick and tired of hearing all these people talk about." Riley sang as she moved towards the front of the stage as her siblings danced behind her. "What's the deal with this pop life and when is gonna fade out?" Patrick and Noah moved behind her and did freezes, balancing on one hand as their bodies were in the air, causing some girls to scream. "The thing you got to realize, what we doing is not a trend. We got the gift of melody, we gonna bring it till the end. Come on now."

_"_ It doesn't matter" Rhuben and Sydney sang as Riley moved away from the front of the stage and Patrick took her place, rolling through his dance moves fluidly.

"'Bout the car I drive or what I wear around my neck." Patrick sang as he danced and pointed over to one side of the audience as they clapped along to the beat of the song.

"All that matters" Noah and Riley sang as Riley grabbed onto Noah's hand and he spun her across the stage.

"Is that you recognize that it's just about respect." Patrick did a body roll and laughed as he pointed to the other side of the audience.

"It doesn't matter." Sydney did a split jump into the air and landed on his feet before rolling onto his back, allowing Riley and Rhuben to grab onto his hands and flip him back to his feet. (Like the move that Logan does in the music video for 'Big Time Rush')

"About the clothes I wear," Patrick tugged at his shirt collar. "And where I go and why."

"All that matters" Riley, Rhuben, Noah, and Sydney sang in unison as they moved back towards the center of the stage.

"Is that you get hyped and we'll do it to you every time." Patrick held onto his fedora as he backed up a few steps until he was in the center of their 'v' formation. "Come on now"

"Do you ever wonder why this music gets you high? It takes you on a ride. You feel it when your body starts to rock. Baby you can't stop. And the music's all you got. This must be, pop." They all sang as they moved through the dance routine that Rhuben and Sydney had thought up for the song, simple, yet complicated at the exact same time.

"Dirty pop. Baby you can't stop." Sydney sang as they all skipped across the stage to get to their points on stage. "I know you like this dirty pop. This must be…" He did a cartwheel across the stage as Noah moved to the front.

"Now, why you wanna try to classify the type of thing that we do?" He questioned as he tucked one foot behind him and spun in a quick circle, holding onto his fedora to make sure that it didn't fall off.

"'Cause we're just fine doin what we like" Patrick and Sydney sang as they patted Noah on the back and did a slide along with him.

"Can we say the same for you?" Noah sang as he moved towards the front of the stage and sat down, one leg up to his chest and the other hanging over the side of the stage. "Tired of feelin all around me-"

"Animosity" Riley and Rhuben sang as they crossed the stage behind him. Rhuben took off his hat, rolled it down her arm, and passed it to Riley, who placed it back on his head.

"Just worry about yours 'cause I'ma get mine." Noah got back to his feet and smiled over at Katie before backing up so Rhuben could move to the front of the stage. "Now people can't you see?"

"It doesn't matter" Riley and Patrick sang as the other four moved behind Rhuben and started to dance in sync.

"'Bout the car I drive or the ice around my neck." Rhuben sang as she danced a different routine in front of the other four."

"All that matters" Noah and Sydney sang.

"Is that you recognize that it's just about respect."

"It doesn't matter"

"About the clothes I wear and where I go and why.

"All that matters."

"Is that you get hyped and we'll give it to you every time. Come on." Rhuben moved over to the side as Sydney moved to the front of the stage.

The five of them moved through the chorus again and as they continued to dance around on the stage, the gym was filled to maximum capacity as the students and the Jacksons' friends and family were dancing along in the audience, enjoying the music.

"Do you ever wonder why." Sydney sang as the five of them moved in slow motion along with the song.

"Every wonder why?" Patrick echoed.

"This music gets you high"

"Gets you high" Noah echoed this time.

"It takes you on a ride. You feel it when your body starts to rock." Sydney sang and he, Noah, and Patrick backed up so Riley and Rhuben could run forward, put their arms over their heads, and swing themselves down, doing front flips across the stage.

"When your body starts to rock."

"Baby you can't stop."

"It don't stop"

"And the music's all you got."

"Come on now. This must be."

The Jacksons all moved together again and went back to the dance routine that they did the first time that they had done the chorus." Do you ever wonder why this music gets you high? It takes you on a ride. You feel it when your body starts to rock and baby you can't stop and the music's all you got. This must be, pop."

The Jacksons all ended the song with a pose, as the audience cheered for them, breathing heavily.

"Alright," Rhuben adjusted her head mic before walking over to the other end of the stage. "This next song that we're going to perform is another fan favorite, and it's our cover of Jay Sean's song, Down. Hope you like it."

* * *

"He big bro, are you ok?" Katie asked as she touched her brother's arm to get his attention.

He was standing at the punch table with WayneWayne, James, Logan, Carlos, and Julius, all talking about how they weren't sure how girls could dance so much. But he was standing off to the side, just looking around at all of the dancers.

"Yeah," Kendall filled a cup with punch and handed it over to her. "Why?"

"Because you've been acting kind of weird all night." Katie remarked and turned her head to wave at Noah, who waved back before sitting down on the edge of the stage with his twin.

The Jacksons were taking a break from their performance and were all doing different things. Patrick and Noah were resting their feet by sitting on the stage; Sydney was over by the snack table, talking to people as he continued to eat cookies. But Riley and Rhuben were dancing with the girls as the guys took a break. (That and the fact that they weren't great dancers in the first place.)

"It's not me that's been acting weird," Kendall remarked as he turned to face his little sister. "I haven't been able to talk to Riley for more than two minutes all night." He explained as Katie listened patiently. "If she's not performing, she's always talking to someone else. I think she's avoiding me."

"She's not avoiding you," Katie reassured her brother the best she could. "She's just busy. There _are_ a lot of people that want to meet us tonight." She turned her head as the girls started to move towards the punch table where the guys were. "Well, you can talk to her about it now."

Kendall made a sound that Katie wasn't sure how to decipher and then turned to Riley. "Hey Ruby," he had to practically shout over the music to get her attention. "Do you want to dance?" he asked. _For once this night_ he added to himself.

"Sorry," she gave an apologetic smile and grabbed onto Logan's arm. "But Logan promised me a dance and I'm not going to let him get out of this one." Logan looked confused as Riley dragged him off onto the dance floor.

"See." Kendall stated to Katie, who looked confused herself.

"Don't have a heart attack Kendall," Stephanie stated and grabbed onto his arm. "I'll dance with you." She turned to Carlos, who looked annoyed. "Don't worry; I'll be back for you later." She giggled as Carlos smiled so wide his cheeks hurt, and waved.

"Please don't tell me that you're going to make me dance again." James stated in a whiny tone as Jo looked over at him.

"Don't worry," Jo giggled as she wrapped her hands around his arm and leaned into his side. "I'm not going to; my stomach hurts from laughing too much."

"Thanks." James rolled his eyes.

"No problem."

Katie laughed along with Jo before excusing herself and walking over to Patrick and Noah, who had a lot of girls circled around them, getting pictures taken.

"Still not used to the popularity, huh?" Katie teased Patrick, who had moved away from Noah and the other girls so he could take a break from smiling for pictures, as she lightly punched him on the arm. Patrick gave a short laugh in reply as he ran his fingers through his hair. Katie could tell that he was tired from the fact that he wasn't obsessing over the fact that his spikes weren't perfect.

"As long as I'm not dancing for a while so I can rest my feet," Patrick wiggled his feet back and forth for emphasis. "Taking so many pictures doesn't bother me." He smiled and lowered his feet. "So are you having fun?"

"Yeah," Katie smiled and nodded once. "A lot of fun more than I thought that I would have since I'm not much of a dance in a dress person." She added.

"Oh Riles and Rhubes are the same way," Patrick agreed with a nod. "And we don't like to dress up much either," he added. "But hey, if it makes our fans happy and if we're having fun, then we can get over it." He smirked as he nudged Katie's side gently. "So, have you and Noah really gotten to dance yet?"

"Yeah, one or two times." Katie smiled, blushing at the look on his face. The two of them had danced to two fast songs and one slow one.

She blushed even harder when she remembered how close Noah had held her when they were slow dancing, she could feel his heart beat through his chest and she could tell that he was nervous as it was beating like crazy. Kendall kind of went crazy about it, even though he knew how nice Noah was, but he was always like that with Katie.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to dance," Katie added. "Since you haven't in a while, but because you're teasing me so much, I don't think I'll ask."

"No skin off my nose, mate," Patrick shrugged and gave an impish smile. "I have a whole line of girls waiting to dance with me."

"Really?" Katie snorted. "Where?"

"Go ask my brother to dance and leave me alone." Patrick instructed, pushing Katie by him as he laughed.

Katie gave a short wave before making her way over to Noah. She brushed her hair out of her face and looked up just in time to see a girl, who was most likely a freshman from how young she looked, lean forward and kiss Noah on the lips as her friend took her picture.

Katie frowned as she stopped walking, watching as the girl pulled away and Noah politely smile at her before he wiped his hand across his mouth. He turned away from the girl, looking annoyed and then spotted Katie. His eyes widened as Katie glared at him before she turned and shoved her way through the crowd.

"Katie!" he called after her before getting off of the stage and hurrying after her as fast as he could.

* * *

"Wow, I'm glad that's over." Camille stated as everyone sat on the couches in the lobby of the hotel. The dance had ended about an hour ago and now they were resting their feet before they went up to their rooms. Sydney was curled up Julius' lap, having conked out hours ago and had slept in the limo. Katie sat as far away from Noah as she could and had ignored him for the rest of the night "I'm ready to go to sleep."

"So am I." Jo agreed as she stretched her arms over her head. "I think I'll be able to sleep for days." She shook her head. "I don't think I've ever danced that much."

"Me either." James agreed, wincing with each step he took. "My feet are so swollen." He yawned loudly. "I'm going straight to sleep, good night guys."

"See you tomorrow." Carlos agreed as everyone shuffled to the elevators.

Logan stopped when he noticed that Riley and Rhuben were still sitting on the couch. He looked back at his friends before walking back over to his best friends. "Hey, are you guys ok?" he asked as he studied their faces.

"We're fine," Riley replied as she took off her high heels and rubbed her feet. "But we want to talk to you." She replied and looked at him seriously.

Logan's eyebrow twitched as he looked over at Rhuben. "You're not breaking up with me are you?" he questioned.

Rhuben raised an eyebrow as well. "No," she replied, laughing a little. "If I was you'd know it, besides, Riley wouldn't be here if I was going to break up with you."

"Right," she agreed. "I would be hiding around the corner with Patrick, Noah, and Sydney eavesdropping." She laughed lightly before patting the space in between them. "Sit down, Logie."

"Alright," Logan sat down and sighed when he was off his feet. "What did you want to talk to me about? I can tell it's really serious from the looks on your faces."

"It is," Rhuben agreed as she gathered her hair into a ponytail and moved her hair behind her shoulders. "Ri and I think that you deserve to know everything that has happened to us in the few years that we weren't around each other."

"Including a bit of our life back in Australia." Riley agreed.

"Why are you telling me this now?" Logan questioned, looking confused. "And why only me?"

"We're telling you now because now is a good time as any," Rhuben replied, yawning a little. "Plus we both agree that we've been putting it off for too long. And you're our best friend, so it's a good idea for you to be the first one to know." She took a deep breath, scratching her forehead before speaking. "After we moved away from you and Texas we were constantly going back and forth from Australia and LA and that caused a lot of stress on us."

"And because of that stress, Rhu and I didn't make the best decisions in the world." Riley added and turned her hands over so he could see all the old cuts that lined her arm. "That day when we were in LA, celebrating the fact that Ronan was going to be our new dad, you found out about my cutting." She explained and looked him in the eye. "While we were going back and forth from LA to Australia, Rhuben and I started to date some guys that were…well…"

"They were jerks." Rhuben stated and Logan turned to look at her. "And unfortunately, all they cared about was the fact that they were getting famous because they were dating us. They didn't care at all, and they weren't nice. Long story short, because of them and because of the abuse that we were getting, Riley started to cut and for a while I became anorexic."

"What?" Logan questioned after a second of silence. _Anorexic? _ He repeated to himself. _As in not eating? As in hurting your body from the inside out? It makes sense as to why she acts kind of weird around food. _He shook his head. "Wait a minute," he turned to Riley. "Is that why you were acting weird around Kendall tonight?"

"No," Riley shook her head. "I didn't mean to practically avoid him all night," she sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I'm just still not used to the fact that he is as nice as he is and cares about me. It kind of freaks me out from time to time so I try not to be too close to him, but I'm trying to get over it."

"But you need to tell him." Logan insisted.

"No," Riley shook her head again. "It's easier if I don't get him worried about me. I'll get over it eventually"

"Then why tell me all this?" Logan sounded exasperated as he threw his hands into the air and then turned to Rhuben with wide eyes. "Why did you tell me that you were anorexic? Why do you want me to know?"

"Because we trust you completely." Rhuben replied patiently.

Logan blinked as he looked down at his hands. Part of him felt really happy that he was the only one that the two of them completely trusted. It made sense as when they were dancing, Rhuben allowed him to hold her close to him, closer than usual. Normally she would have him hold her almost at arm's length away, because she was still not used to the fact that he didn't want to hit her, and he was happy about the change, although he didn't understand why.

"And as much as I hate to say it, you're the only one that we trust. Everyone else is our best friends, we know that, but there's still the little bit of fear that they're going to do something to hurt us or our brothers that we just can't get over."

"And we've known you for so long that you're the only one that we knew that we could be completely happy around without having to worry." Riley added as she gently grabbed his hand. "You're our best friend and if we didn't meet you nine years ago, we may still be very hostile towards you." Despite the seriousness of their conversation, she laughed a little.

"Promise that you won't tell everyone else until we want to tell them," Rhuben stated. "Please? We know that you always try to talk to people to get their problems solves, but it would be better if this waited until we're ready for it."

"Fine," Logan didn't sound happy but agreed to it anyway."

"You're our best friend Logie," Riley smiled a genuine smile. "And we love you, you know."

"I love you guys too," Logan smiled back and put his arms around both girls, pulling them into his side. "But I love you more." He stated to Rhuben, who laughed at the sound of outrage that Riley made.

"I heard that!" she stated.

"I know," Logan smirked in reply. "I said it out loud."

* * *

**A/N: See, high school dances always cause drama. The only reason this chapter took so long for me to put up was because there are some lyrics needed and I was finishing up my NaNoWriMo at the same time as well as finishing papers and getting home for thanksgiving. But now that it's finally up, I hope you guys really enjoyed it. I'll update again soon. I know it didn't really have to do with the dance, but all of it was needed. Next chapter has everyone during Halloween, but it's not going to be a complete humor/friendship chapter, it's going to have angst in it as well.**

**Anyway, I said that this chapter was going to be really important and it is, the part with Noah and Katie, James and Jo, Ronan, Gustavo, Kelly, and Kacy, and the talk between Logan, Riley, and Rhuben at the end are all very important to keep in mind when reading the rest of the story. I hadn't done a RileyxLoganxRhuben friendship in a while, so I thought doing this would be good as well as the PatrickxKatie friendship.  
**

**I'll update again soon.**

**-Riley**


	7. Big Time Vegas Halloween

**Chapter Seven – Big Time Halloween in Vegas**

**

* * *

**WayneWayne half screamed/half howled with pain as he gripped his lower back and jumped in place, waiting for the stinging pain to go away. Beside him, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney were laughing hysterically, holding onto whatever was near them so they didn't fall over as the bus rocked back at forth. Each of them was clutching their stomachs, tears falling down their faces as they held tightly onto hardback books.

"Ow!" WayneWayne turned around and looked at Patrick, although he was still laughing. "Ok, that one hurt, but it didn't hurt as bad as the last one." He stated through gritted teeth.

"Yeah right," Sydney finally managed to breathe. "Dude, you jumped a mile in your shoes." He stated gleefully. He twirled the book that he was holding and glanced at the cover. "_War and Peace_" he read out loud before making a snorting sound. "Very ironic."

"My turn," Patrick handed his book over to WayneWayne and moved to stand in front of his brothers. "Give me your best shot."

"Alright," Noah shrugged and shook out his arms. "Don't say I didn't warn ya." He lifted up his leg like a baseball player and pulled his arms back to get the full swing of the book that he was holding. "One…Two….Th-"

"What are you doing?" Logan asked as he walked over to the four boys with a raised eyebrow. He pointed over his shoulder. "We're all watching TV and I heard you guys' screams, but Landy said that I shouldn't even bother coming down here because you were doing something stupid."

"She's right." Noah remarked as his lips twitched.

"We were bored," Patrick replied and turned around to face him, cracking his fingers nervously. "So we decided to play the game that we used to play when we were on tour."

Logan made a face, looking as if he was wincing. It was obvious that he was afraid to ask what it was, but because he was a curious person, he knew that he wouldn't be able to hold out much longer. Finally, he sighed heavily and rolled his eyes, as if he was asking himself why he was doing this. "Which was?" he asked meekly.

Noah smiled softly. "Smack each other on the back with hardback books to see who can wistand the most pain." He explained with a nod. He raised and lowered one shoulder. "I was completely against the idea at first but-"

"But Katie's blatant avoidance of him was getting on his nerves so he came down here to have some sort of fun." Sydney jumped in, causing Noah to frown and glare at his younger brother. Sydney sensed it and slowly turned his head to smile innocently at his brother. "That completely came out wrong."

Five days ago was the Homecoming dance and while it was really fun for everyone it wasn't that great for Noah. He had been taking a break from dancing and performing with his brothers and sisters, as they were fulfilling a contest promise by performing for a homecoming dance at an Oregon high school. So he was taking a break and taking pictures with fans when a girl sneak-attacked him and gave him a kiss. Unfortunately he didn't really do anything to stop her because he was in shock and Katie had seen the whole thing and fled in tears. He chased after her, trying to get her to talk to him, but she ran to the limo and sat in there, refusing to open the door until it was time for everyone to leave. Since then she had been avoiding him to the best of her abilities. Even so to the point that she would try to make sure that she was either with Kendall or one of the girls so she wasn't completely alone so he couldn't talk to her by himself.

Now it was Halloween and they were on their way to Las Vegas, Nevada. After playing a quick show in Washington and Idaho they drove two straight days to get to Nevada. The adults were looking forward to being able to gamble and have a bit of fun without the teenagers around, and the teenagers were just happy with being able to go to a big city for Halloween. Logan personally thought that they were all a little bit too old to go trick or treating, but he also didn't want to be left out from everyone's fun.

"Right, because what I really needed was a reminder that she hates my guts." Noah commented sharply. He noticed the saddened expression on Sydney's face and gave a half-smile. "I'm not blaming you, Little Man." He stated and Sydney instantly snapped to a smile again. "It kind of is my fault that I didn't exactly tell the girl that I had a girlfriend."

"_Is_ Katie your girlfriend?" WayneWayne asked curiously as he continued to rub his lower back. Logan glanced at the spot and winced when he saw how red the mark was. He almost burst out laughing when he saw that it was in the perfect shape of a book.

"Not anymore." Patrick remarked and then looked exasperated as Noah glared at him. "What?" he threw his hands into the air. "I was trying to make you laugh. You know, to see the funny side of the whole thing."

"Yeah, nice try." Sydney remarked. He looked down at the book that was in his hand and darted forward, smacking Patrick on the lower back when he wasn't paying attention. Noah and WayneWayne laughed as Patrick screamed with pain and dropped to his knees. He turned and grabbed onto Logan's arm. "C'mon Logan, let's get some lunch. I'm hungry."

"Don't you think that you should apologize to your brother?" Logan asked, although he was laughing at Patrick's reaction. He was lying on the ground and rolling back and forth as WayneWayne and Noah stood over him, laughing hard.

"No," Sydney replied simply and continued to drag Logan back up the stairs of the bus. "He knows that it's just in the fun of the game."

Logan laughed again and continued to allow himself to be dragged into the small kitchen area. It wasn't really a kitchen; there were only a few cabinets that held a few things, a small mini fridge, and a small microwave. So far there were only a few loaves of bread and a few half empty boxes of cereal in the cupboards as well as some fruit and milk in the refrigerator. There were a few other things that had people's names on them and Logan and Sydney definitely knew not to eat or drink them because everyone was very territorial about their food.

He had learned that the hard way after he had accidentally eaten some of James' food.

"So, buddy, what would you like?" Logan asked as Sydney moved over to the small table that was by the window. "We don't have much that you can choose from." He stated as he looked into the refrigerator. "Which, logically, makes sense because all anyone wants to do is eat at rest-"

"Do you ever have a conversation without the use of big words and realistic thinking?" Sydney interrupted, holding his chin in his hands and looking bored. Logan looked over at him and made a face before going back to looking through the cupboards. "I mean, even I take a break every once in a while."

"I get your point, Syd," Logan commented. "Now can it." He gave a warm smile as he turned around and motioned to the peanut butter, banana, and sandwich bread in his arms. "How do you feel about a peanut butter banana sandwich?"

"As long as the bread isn't moldy." Sydney commented.

He remembered that all too well. Carlos was hungry and had eaten a few slices of moldy bread. Next thing anyone knew, they were all staying as far away from the bathroom as they possibly could because Carlos was puking his guts out. That was almost impossible to do as they were on a tour bus, but there wasn't much that you could do. Sure the windows were rolled down because it was late Halloween and it was still warm, but the smell just seemed to follow them everywhere.

"I checked just in case," Logan stated and slid the supplies to the little boy before grabbing a knife from the cutlery drawer and carefully handing it to him. He slid into the seat across from Sydney and smiled as he eagerly grabbed his banana and started to peel it.

"Are we going to be in Minnesota for Thanksgiving?" Sydney questioned, trying to change the conversation. Logan thought about it and then replied that he wasn't sure, it really depended on where they were going to be around that time. "I bet you guys can't wait to get back home," Sydney stated, licking peanut butter off of his fingers as he constructed his sandwich. He smiled. "You guys are going to love the surprise that we have set up for you."

"Oh yeah, what's that?" Logan questioned, watching to make sure that Sydney didn't cut himself as he cut his peanut butter and banana sandwich in half. Sydney just smiled.

"You'll find out." He replied mysteriously.

"I hate surprise." Logan remarked, slightly annoyed.

"So does Rhu-Rhu," Sydney lifted his head and smiled at Logan as if he was hiding a secret. His hair rested on his eyelashes and it caused him to look younger than he already was. "But you don't seem to care about that." He didn't give Logan a chance to answer as he slid out of his chair and ran over to his dad, who was talking to Mrs. Knight towards the front of the bus.

"I don't know what to do because they're going to want to see him." Mrs. Knight was saying as Sydney hurried over to the two of them. Ronan gave her a look and she stopped talking before he turned to his son, who looked worried.

"Was I interrupting something important?" he questioned.

"Just talking about music stuff," Ronan replied quickly. "What's up Little Man?" he questioned as calmly as possible.

Sydney made a face, as if he didn't believe his father, but didn't call him out on it. He learned from his brothers and sisters that there was a time to talk someone into telling you what was wrong, and there was a time where you should wait and have them talk to you. He knew that this was definitely one of those times.

"How much longer until we're in Vegas?" he questioned quietly.

"About another hour or so," Ronan replied looking at his watch. "Why don't you all go back and watch some TV? And tell Patrick and Noah to stop beating up WayneWayne, I don't want to have to pay for his medical bill if they go too far." He added.

"Sure thing, daddy." Sydney replied and scampered away.

Ronan waited until he and Logan were out of sight before turning back to Mrs. Knight, who looked depressed, to say the least. She was leaning back against the side of the couch that the two were sitting on and she looked really tired, as if she hadn't gotten a lot of sleep lately. Ronan knew that that was true as she had been falling asleep in random places. Even when she would usually be sitting in the audience at the shows, she would be backstage, sleeping as much as she could.

"Ok, let me see if I still get this," Ronan stated as he gently ran his hands over his face. "Your ex-husband is trying to come back into yours and your son's and daughter's life." Mrs. Knight nodded. "And he says that he wants to make things different and that he's sorry that he had run out on you guys." She nodded again. "If I'm correct in assuming, the only reason that you're such a wreck about this is because you don't know what to do when it comes to telling Kendall and Katie and how they're going to react."

"You know, even though you haven't been a father for long, you're really intuitive." Mrs. Knight commented, trying to change the subject.

"Nice try," Ronan gave a wry smile. "But I can even see through Rhuben's attempts to fool me." He gave a humorless chuckle and rested his cheek on his palm. "So are you asking for my advice or are you just telling me this so someone else knows?"

"Oh," Mrs. Knight flushed a little. "I'm getting all of your guys' advice; I think that it would be good. I'm going to tell Gustavo and Kelly and I was wondering whether or not I should tell Julius and Brittany." She stated, causing Ronan to look thoughtful.

"I know that Julius and Brittany are both old enough to have good ideas and opinions when it comes to something like this," Ronan stated slowly. "But I also think that they should focus on their wedding, since they haven't even chosen a date or anything yet." He rubbed his eyebrow and Mrs. Knight smiled a little. "But here's my advice to you." Ronan leaned forward so Mrs. Knight could tell that he was serious. "If you're going to have him come back into Kendall's and Katie's lives, make sure you either keep an eye on him or talk about it with them for a long time to make sure it's the right thing to do."

"How do you know what's the right thing to do?" Mrs. Knight turned her head and looked at him warily. She wasn't being mean, she was just curious. "You don't date much and I don't feel that you're actually interested in dating. Plus you recently adopted six kids who are almost as much as a handful as Kendall and the boys are."

"I don't like to date," Ronan replied simply. "I'm very busy as it is so dating is really hard for me." He shrugged. "Besides, I haven't dated since I was a teenager and even though I've had offers, I don't really know what to do on a date." He made a face. "And I don't like feeling like a fool."

"Well, you should think about it." Mrs. Knight commented. She sighed and turned and looked out the window at the passing trees. "Just do me a favor and make sure that it's something that you know inside and out just in case you get married."

"Trust me," Ronan stated after a second of studying her face. "I've thought about that for a while."

* * *

"Hey guys, we're in LAS VEGAS!" Patrick shouted as he looked out the dark window, emphasizing the last words to get their attention. The others crowded around him and pressed their faces against the window and looked at all of the bright lights of attractions that flashed by.

"Guys get your faces off the windows." Julius laughed when he and Brittany walked into the longue, holding their arms out against the sides of the bus to make sure that they didn't fall over. "I don't want people to think that we're a bunch of deranged people."

"Too late," Jo commented as they all sat back down on the couch. "My first thought when I met these guys was that they were deranged." She commented as she looked at Big Time Rush. "I mean, I don't think I've ever seen anyone get in so much trouble before."

"If they've ever seen out backstage videos it's way too late for that." Rhuben commented with a smile as she turned to face the two of them. "But you guys can't not be excited to be in Las Vegas." She waved her arm towards the window. "I mean the lights and everything."

The bus lurched to the side and Brittany started to fall over, but he grabbed her around her waist and quickly pulled her upright. "Careful, I don't want my fiancée to get injured." He smiled lovingly at her.

"So why don't you two get married here in Vegas?" Camille asked with an eager smile. "We could be your witnesses, and it would be so romantic." She held her hands up in the shape of a square and squinted one eye shut. "I think I can see your guys' wedding colors as peach and black and white."

Julius made a face at the thought of peach being one f the wedding colors. "That idea is fine," he stated as he pointed to Camille. "But being married in a place where there's about twenty Elvis impersonators on every street corner?" he shook his head. "I don't think so."

"But it would save on all of the wedding stuff that you would have to get." Katie pointed out. "I mean, I don't know a lot about wedding, buts I do know that they can get pretty expensive."

"Have you ever thought about how expensive it will be to have a 'walk-in' wedding?" Brittany asked using air quotes around the words. She laughed and wrapped her arms around Julius' arm. "Anyway, Ronan sent us up here to tell you guys that we're going to be at the hotel soon and that we should get everything together."

"You have the rest of tonight off," Julius added, speaking to the two bands more than anyone else. "So you guys can go trick-or-treating or whatever it is you want to do to have fun tonight." He cleared his throat. "Just make sure that Syd is with one of you guys at all times and that you get a good night's sleep because you're going to be rehearsing all tomorrow and then have the concert tomorrow night."

"Got it!" was the unanimous reply.

Julius smiled and he and Brittany turned and went back down the stairs, probably to the main floor to get all of their stuff.

"I can't believe that we're in Las Vegas," Stephanie stated as she leaned against Carlos' side, absentmindedly twirling a strand of hair around her finger. She tilted her head back and smiled up at her boyfriend. "What do you want to do first?"

"Anything involving Candy." Carlos replied, sounding weird. Stephanie frowned when she saw the faraway look on his face. She had an idea what was wrong, but knew that he wasn't going to come right out and say it.

Patrick looked at Carlos and then and Kendall, James, and Logan. He knew that something was going on with all of them but wasn't sure what it was exactly. They were acting different, just ever so subtly that you could only notice if you were very perceptive. He looked over at Noah, then Sydney, Riley, and Rhuben; they looked back at him out of the corner of their eyes and slightly nodded.

All of them had noticed too.

Carlos shifted and then turned to his friends, a smile blooming on his face. "Which reminds me, guys; when we get to the hotel," he clasped his hands together. "Let's get our costumes on."

"So we can blend in with everyone else that is dressed up," WayneWayne agreed with a nod, although he sounded sarcastic. "Good idea." He looked over at Camille, who snorted. "What?"

"Most of the people here probably aren't wearing costumes." She pointed out and stood up at the bus slowed. "Finally, I really need to stretch my legs. This long bus rides can get really tedious at times." She cried out in shock as Riley pushed by her. "What's your rush?" she cried.

"I _really _have to go to the bathroom." She replied as she hopped from foot to foot.

"Why didn't you just go then?" Kendall laughed at his girlfriend as he pointed to the floor. "It's just down there." He looked at her as if she was crazy. "Not that far away if you haven't noticed."

"Yeah, but I don't like going to the bathroom in there after Carlos is, he messes everything up." Riley replied and started to squirm faster. "And I don't mean that he messes with the medicine cabinet." She turned and ran down the small strip of the bus and then disappeared down the stairs as he friends laughed at her.

Katie giggled as she watched her friends. Sometimes it was weird being one of the youngest ones there, but it was also entertaining at the same time. She got up and started to gather some of her stuff together, trying to avoid Noah's gaze. She knew that he was sorry for what happened; Patrick and Sydney had explained everything as soon as they got the chance, but she was madder at herself than she was at Noah. She was mad that she had gotten so jealous when she usually would just go and get the facts straight. But because she liked Noah so much and she saw him get kissed by someone else, it just hurt and it hurt so much that she did the only thing that any girl would do. She ran.

Now things were awkward and she didn't know what to do about it. She was always too stubborn to admit when she was wrong about something.

Sydney, not being able to get around everyone that was taller than him, jumped up onto the couch and then leapt onto Noah's back, holding tightly onto his shoulders. "Let's go!" he cried, lightly hitting Noah in the sides with his feet.

"What am I?" Noah struggled to keep his balance as he moved towards the stairs so he could go down and get his suitcase before they left the bus. "A horse?" Noah asked, bending down a little so Sydney didn't hit his head on the bus ceiling.

"No, but you look like the rear end of one" Patrick cracked and burst out laughing. He stopped laughing as Noah glared at him and quickly ran off the bus, Noah chasing after him, shouting at the top of his lungs. Sydney held onto Noah as tightly as he could, trying not to get thrown off.

Everyone gathered their stuff and got off of the bus, wheeling their bags behind them. Gustavo's and Kelly's bus pulled up behind them and they got off the bus as well. Gustavo was yelling something about how people on the road don't know how to drive when there is a big tour bus on the roads, and everyone tried to pretend that they didn't know who he was. He seemed to embarrass them wherever they went, and wasn't happy with anything that anyone did for him. (He would probably be unhappy with his room as well.)

Everyone got checked into the hotel rooms and was running back and forth, shouting with excitement when they saw the views that they had and what each room looked this.

"Wow, this is probably the _best_ hotel we've ever stayed in!" Sydney declared as Logan and Camille walked into the big hotel room that the Jacksons were sharing. Logan caught Sydney as he leapt off of the bed and set him on the floor.

"You're going to break something, and I don't want to pay for the broken beds" he teased. Sydney stuck his tongue out at him and giggled happily. "Come on, everyone is waiting in our room." He ushered the Jacksons out of their suite as they called to Julius that they would be back later (Ronan, Mrs. Knight, Kelly, and Gustavo had gone to get some coffee) and they went to the guys' suite, where they were getting into their costumes. Katie, Jo, Camille, Stephanie, and WayneWayne were already in their costumes.

WayneWayne stayed true to his word and was in his costume that he wore when he was pretending to be the bad boy, Jo was dressed up like Little Red Riding Hood complete with a basket, Katie was dressed as a mobster girl, Camille was dressed as Alice in Wonderland, and Stephanie was dressed as a girl version of the Mad Hatter.

"Nice costumes." Noah smiled appreciatively, his gaze resting on Katie a bit longer. She flushed and looked away, still not sure what to say to him. "I really like the Mad Hatter costume, Steph." He added.

"Thanks," Stephanie beamed as she moved her hat to the side. "I wanted to make sure that I could get it before they sold out."

"Aren't you guys going to get dressed?" Katie asked as she raised her eyebrows. "I figured that you would have a group costume or something." She added as Stephanie took out her video camera and started to film everyone.

"Oh we're going to get dressed later," Rhuben replied as she waved her hand. "We just wanted to make sure that Julius and Brittany were gone before we changed." She made a face. "They're cute and all for being newly engaged, but it gets disgusting sometimes."

"Just wait until you and Logan get engaged then you'll know what it feels like." Jo replied with a teasing smile. She laughed as Rhuben rolled her eyes, blushing a little bit. "Oh come on, you know that you two would be a cute married couple."

"I haven't thought about it." Rhuben denied as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Thought about what?" James asked as he and Kendall, Logan, and Carlos walked out of their rooms in their costumes. Kendall was a werewolf, Logan was a zombie, Carlos was Frankenstein, and James was a vampire.

"That you don't sparkle." WayneWayne replied as he made a face at James' costume. "You don't, do you?"

"No," James replied, looking offended. "I'm just a hot vampire with, AWESOME ABS!" He lifted up the bottom of his shirt and started to do a series of body rolls. Jo raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. She forced a smile as Camille and Stephanie elbowed her in the side, giggling.

"Yeah, please put your shirt down before you get arrested for indecent exposure." Sydney commented as he planted his hands on his hips.

"Hey, how about a photo before we go to explore the rest of the hotel?" Riley suggested as she handed Rhuben her digital camera.

"Great idea" Rhuben smiled and fiddled with the camera to put on a timer before putting the camera on the dresser that was sitting near the door. She hurried over to her friends, to get into the picture on time, and leaned into Logan's side, making a goofy face. After the flash went off, she went back to her camera and examined the back of it before laughing out loud. "This is _definitely_ going as my laptop background when we get back home."

"So, hotel, let's check it out!" Riley declared as she pointed to the door.

"Aren't you guys going to get into your costumes?" Carlos asked as he scratched his neck, being careful of not messing up his makeup for his costume.

"Yeah, we're going to get into them later." Patrick replied with a wave of his hand. "No worries, let's just go check out the hotel." He sounded impatient.

Riley looked over at him with a cocked eyebrow and he rose one himself before nodding at his friends and then widening his eyes. Riley nodded back and waited until they had left the guys' hotel room and were going towards the elevators before grabbing the back of Patrick's shirt and dragging him backwards.

"What's up with you?" she questioned.

"I know I'm not the only one that noticed that something is going on with the guys," he replied, speaking of Big Time Rush. Riley looked at their backs before nodding back. "I want to figure out what it is; I think that we should help them, because they helped us so much with everything that was bothering us."

"Good point." Riley agreed and ran a hand through her hair. "I know that we all notice it, later let's try and see what's going on, I think Rhu and I can get it out of Logie. We're going to have to be sneaky after that."

"It's what we do best." Patrick replied with a smug smile and hip-checked his sister before hurrying after his friends.

* * *

When everyone stepped out of the elevator and into the lobby, ringing bells caught their attention. Pulling his video camera out of his case, Sydney was the first to go over towards the noise. He turned on his video camera and got a few seconds of people trying and failing to win the jackpot. But he stayed a respectable distance away.

"Hey, it's a slot machine!" WayneWayne cried as he pointed to the colorful machines. He looked over at Camille, realizing that he didn't sound tough and manly and coughed, deepening his voice. "I mean, yo, a slot machine."

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious" Jo stated as she shook her head. "It's not going to matter to us; we're not old enough to gamble." She rolled her eyes. "Unless, you know, you _want_ to get arrested."

"Apparently these people don't care about that rule" Katie pointed out as he watched two teenage girls, who weren't much older than her brother go and play a slot machine. She raised her eyebrows when she realized that costumes they were wearing. "Then again, with what they're wearing, I bet no one would think twice to ask how old they are."

"Come on, I want to try at least _once_" WayneWayne stated and grinned at Camille, who raised an eyebrow. "I want to buy you something nice."

"If you want to buy her something nice, get her some diamond earrings, but seeing as that's not going to happen, you might as well forget it." Stephanie replied and gave a small smile. Carlos laughed loudly as he pointed at his friend, laughing at his misfortune. But his laugh seemed louder than usual.

"Come on WayneWayne," Kendall spoke up. "We all know that no one is going to believe you're over 21." He rolled his eyes when WayneWayne pouted. "Why do you want to do this so badly?" he questioned.

WayneWayne ignored the question and got down on his knees, holding his hands together in a prayer position as the others looked down at him."Come on, just one." He stated and gave a half smile. One? No one has to know. Please, please, please"

Noah's lips curled into a smile as he looked over at his brothers and sisters. "C-C-C-Come home with me now" Noah sang and the others burst out laughing.

"Please, please, please" Riley, Rhuben, and Sydney sang.

"M-M-M-Must be a dreamer," Noah sang as he danced around his friends in a circle.

"Please, please, please" Patrick and Sydney sang in unison.

"I wanna get with you!" Noah declared as he pointed at his friends.

"Please, please, Lindsay, please!" Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney sang and laughed as WayneWayne stood up, crossing his arms over his chest.

"New song?" Logan questioned.

"Cover." Riley replied simply and he nodded.

"You guys suck!" WayneWayne complained and kicked at an imaginary rock on the ground.

"Fine, just on" Camille said and rolled her eyes, muttering something about 'whining five year olds' under her breath as WayneWayne raced over to the slot machine.

* * *

"Ugh, WayneWayne, are you done yet?" Sydney asked as he looked over at the older boy. The others shook their heads and glared as WayneWayne lost the slot machine, again, and pushed another quarter in. Sydney growled. "I'm going to get my camera and watch the people come in to see what costumes they have." He got down from the stool he was sitting on and looked around for his camera case. "Hey, where'd my camera go?" he walked over to Noah and tugged on his pants leg, looking upset. "Help me find my camera."

"Gladly" Noah sighed and he, Patrick, and Katie turned from WayneWayne and followed Sydney back across the casino, looking for Sydney's camera. They searched back the way they came, looking around people's bags and under slot machines.

"There it is!" Patrick declared when they walked into the lobby. The case was sitting on the floor by a potted plant. He shook his head as Sydney hurried over to retrieve it. "Nice job leaving it there." He commented.

"I could have sworn I just had it with me" Sydney muttered to himself as he picked it up. "This isn't my camera" he commented after a second of looking it over. "The case is the same, but the weight is different." He unzipped it as Katie, Patrick, and Noah moved over and looked inside, his eyes growing wide.

"Whoa" Katie breathed as she and Noah and Patrick looked at the diamond that was sitting in the case. It was huge. She shook her head as she looked at it. "That is _definitely_ not from here."

"Duh" Patrick gave her a stupid look. "It says 'Property of the Smithsonian on the back. Obviously it's not from here." Katie glared at him and he smiled sweetly.

"And that means its _stolen_ idiot" Sydney shot back as he closed the case. He started to walk towards his sisters and their friends. "Come on, maybe they'll know what to-"

"HEY!"

Katie, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney turned around and their eyes grew about three times wider as five men ran towards them across the lobby. They were all dressed in black and grey and looked mad when they saw the case in Sydney's hands.

"Those must be the guys that stole the diamond" Patrick gasped as he took a step back.

"Ya think?" Noah asked in reply.

"Let's get out of here!" Sydney declared and threw the case over his shoulders and the four of them ran back to their friends as fast as they could.

Katie grabbed on Kendall's arm, trying to catch her breath as she tried to warn them. "Guys!" She finally got her breath and started to point frantically. "We have to go!"

"What did you do?" Riley and Rhuben asked their brothers unison, narrowing their eyes in suspicion.

"_We_ didn't do anything" Patrick denied, his voice cracking. "_They_ did" he said and pointed to the five men that were running towards them.

"Why are they running towards us with pissed looks on their faces?" Carlos asked in worry as he took a step back. Stephanie grabbed onto his arm and started to lightly tug it, although she still had her own video camera up to her face.

"Because they stole this diamond _thing_" Sydney shook the bag in their faces for emphasis. "And they got the cases mixed up with my camera case, and so we have the diamond and now they're going to kill us!" Sydney replied breathlessly.

"Let's get out of here!" James said and grabbed Jo's hand and started to run, everyone following after him.

"WayneWayne, come on" Rhuben stated eagerly and shook WayneWayne's shoulder.

"No way, I'm close to winning this thing" WayneWayne said as he lost again, he only had a few dollars left. His eyes were glued onto the slot machine screen. "I'm not going to stop until I win." He stated in annoyance.

"Or until you're dead" Riley pointed out, grabbing his head and turning his head towards the five men that were still running towards them.

"Game over" WayneWayne declared and let go of the machine.

Big Time Rush, DarkElements, WayneWayne, Camille, Jo, Stephanie, and Carlos ran as fast as they could, trying to keep the men far behind them. Sydney purposely bent down and ran under the tables of slot machines, pushing people out of his way so he would stay in front of the men that were chasing them. Patrick and Noah vaulted over many tables as well as knocking people's bags in the way to make sure that they didn't get caught.

They skidded to a stop at the exit on the other side of the casino and looked around to see if the guys were still following them and if there was another way out. It was then that Kendall noticed that Logan wasn't around them.

"Where'd Logie go?" He asked, barely out of breath.

"I'm right here!" Logan said suddenly, causing everybody to scream as he walked up behind them.

"Don't _do_ that!" Rhuben hissed slapping his arm and then giving him a hug.

"Sorry," Logan smiled a little as he gave her a hug in return. "I just wanted to get out of there as fast as possible, because we didn't know what these guys were capable of." He gestured behind them. "I found a place that we could go-"

"Don't just stand there, come on!" Katie cried as she looked over her shoulder and saw the five men burst through the doors they just came through.

They started to run again, but Patrick and Noah stayed at the back, looking around for something that could keep the robbers back a little bit. Patrick spotted a kid sitting on a bench, a bag of jelly beans in his hands. He looked over at Noah, who nodded back at him, telling him that he saw the kid too.

"Can I borrow this?" Noah asked politely when he ran over to the kid.

Wordlessly, the boy nodded and Noah grabbed the bag of jelly beans. He dumped them on the floor and raced after his siblings and friends, looking over his shoulder and laughing as they slipped and fell over the jelly beans.

They ran down dark hallways and up staircases that turned and spiraled all over the place. Logan was leading them and didn't really know where he was going but knew they couldn't stop running because the men weren't too far behind them. Seeing a door that was open, James quickly ushered everybody inside and shut the door, so it was pitch black. Holding their breath, they waited for the men to run and their footsteps to fade on the stairs before making any sound.

"Anybody have some source of light?" Sydney asked curiously. He stared when all of a sudden numerous cell phones were shoved into his face. "Thank you." He unzipped the case and turned it towards his friends. "This is why we're running."

"Whoa, no wonder these people are chasing us!" Carlos said loudly and the others shushed him. He flinched at the harsh tones of his friends. "Sorry, what is that?"

"It's a very valuable diamond from the Smithsonian." Sydney whispered, his blue eyes glowing in the light of the fire. "And since they stole it, I think that-"

"No one move, and no one gets hurt!" a voice cried as the door burst open. Everyone turned and saw the five men crowding into the room; they all looked at the teenagers menacingly. "Now, give us the diamond" one of the taller men said.

"Why, just so you can pawn it off and get lots of money?" Patrick asked curiously and then looked even more confused when everybody slapped their foreheads.

"Ignore him, he was dropped on his head when he was a baby" Riley commented. In the light of the cell phones, she saw that Rhuben was inching her way towards the door, a metal pipe in her hands, so she tried to keep them talking so they wouldn't notice her. "How did you guys steal this thing?" she asked. Kendall shot her a look and she ignored him.

"Why does it matter?" the shortest one asked, Rhuben was right by him but he didn't even notice. Before anyone could say anything else, Rhuben swung the metals pipe, hitting the nearest one to her on the back of the head; she hit the tallest one in the back of the legs, and smashed the pipe into the ribs and the backs of the other three.

"Let's go" she said in monotone as she tossed the pipe to the ground.

"Logan, remind me to never get your girlfriend mad" James said with a hint of fear in his voice.

"I was thinking the exact same thing." Logan admitted eyes wide.

"Don't just stand there," Riley said and grabbed the metal pipe, holding it like a baseball bat. "Let's get out of here. I think I know where we are." She squeezed by the crumpled forms on the ground and climbed out of the supply closet.

"Where's that?" Katie questioned as Kendall helped her out of the supply closet and she started to run behind her friends.

"You'll see" Riley muttered in reply as the others followed her up numerous flights of stairs and onto a cat walk, orange light glowing from below them.

"Do you guys hear that music?" Stephanie asked as they walked along slowly.

"Yes, Steph we can all hear it!" WayneWayne snapped at her and Rhuben pushed him on the arm, causing him to cry out in fear and hold onto the railing in a death grip. "Are you trying to kill me? We almost went over!"

"That's it!" Sydney cried excitedly, hopping up and down.

"What's it?" Noah asked and looked at him.

"Oh no, we're jumping" WayneWayne said and closed his eyes in fear as he looked down.

"Guys, we're above the stage that those show girl people perform on." Sydney explained, still bouncing up at down.

"I get it." Patrick nodded. "Those performers down there, the ones in all of the feathers and stuff they'll block the men from getting to us so we can get to a security guard."

"If we could have gone to a security guard, how come you didn't think of that in the first place?" Jo asked out loud. Rhuben looked dumbfound and then shook her head, turning to Riley, who was at the end of the line.

"Why _didn't_ we think of it?" Rhuben asked her twin. Riley shrugged in reply after a second of silence, just as dumbfounded as her sister. They all let our cries of shock when the cat walk dipped and bounced. Riley looked over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes. "We have company guys, get down there."

"You want us to _jump_?" Carlos asked his friend in fear.

"No, I want you to do the Macarena" Riley replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Yes, _jump_. I can almost guarantee that you won't get hurt." She pointed. "There are mats down there." Big Time Rush leaned against the side of the catwalk and noticed that there were actually numerous mats down on the stage. "I'm not asking." She stated when no one moved.

Carlos grabbed onto the railing, hesitated, and screamed loudly as he jumped over the side of the catwalk, dropping down on the matt below. When everyone else saw that he was ok, they went ahead and jumped as well. Logan was the last one to go, hesitating as the men got closer and closer to them. He looked back and forth between the two options before growling in annoyance and squeezing his eyes shut.

"I've got to get new friends." He stated before jumping over the side as well.

He felt a few feet, the wind whistling in his ears before he landed on the soft matt. He opened his eyes and got to his feet, ignoring the audience that had watched them all drop from out of nowhere and tilted his head to the side when he saw that Carlos was on the stage doing the can-can with the performers, who looked as bewildered as the audience.

"What are you doing?" He demanded.

"What does it look like?" Carlos shouted back, smiling happily. "I'm trying to blend in!"

"In _those_ clothes you won't!" Katie snapped back and then turned around, sighing as a group of security guards jogged over to the stage. "Thank god that's over." She stated, sitting down on the end of the stage.

"I know," Noah agreed. "I didn't think I was going to be able to run anymore." Katie looked over at him and then down at her hands and then over at him again. "What?" he noticed her out of the corner of his eyes.

"I'm sorry for overreacting." She replied sincerely. "I don't know," she rubbed her neck. "I guess I was jealous by the attention that you give you fans." She realized that she was speaking the truth as she said the words. She just didn't notice it before.

"It's my own fault," Noah replied as quietly as ever. "I didn't push her away when I'm kind of already dating you." He blushed and looked at his feet. "I'm always so shy around girls, so I don't really know how to say 'no' when it comes to their offers and stuff."

"Well, I'm going to have to worry about that now," Katie replied with a smug smile. "Because they're going to have to go through me."

Noah lifted his head and shyly smiled at her, laughing a little at the thought.

"How can we thank you kids?" one of the security guards asked them once they were close enough. "You stopped these crooks from getting away with lots of money worth of the diamond and police officers all over the US have been trying to catch them." Everyone smiled at each other proudly, now that they knew that they were going to stop being chased. "So what can we do to repay you?"

"WHAT DID YOU DOGS DO?" Gustavo's voice rang out from the back of the hall.

"Oh no." Kendall moaned as Gustavo, Kelly, Mrs. Knight, and Ronan hurried over, looking confused and concerned at the same time. "IF IT'S NOT ONE THING IT'S ANOTHER! I CAN'T TURN MY BACKS ON YOU FOR ONE SECOND WITHOUY YOU GETTING INTO ANY TROUBLE!"

"I have an idea" Rhuben said, looking scared. "Get us away from him.

* * *

**A/N: The angst in this chapter was with Ronan and Mrs. Knight, I want you guys to read that part carefully. I wanted to show how everyone got along and what their friendship was like, so I made this chapter that emphasized it, although I know that I didn't give everyone enough speaking parts. (I also held back on the relationships in this chapter.) I hope that you also like that I have finally explained what is going on with Mrs. Knight and with Kendall. The only thing is that Mrs. Knight doesn't know that her son knows. **

**Next chapter still has the angst/drama as well as funny and light hearted points. It will show more of the sistership between Riley and Rhuben but mostly focus on the adults (Mrs. Knight, Kelly, Ronan, Gustavo, Julius, and Brittany). I hope you guys really enjoyed this chapter; I tried to make it as enjoyable as possible.**

**I don't know when the next time I'll update will be, I'm doing exams soon and I have to start getting ready for those.**

**Cheers,**

**-Riley**


	8. Big Time Decision

**Chapter Eight – Big Time Decision**

**

* * *

**"DOGS, YOU'RE LATE!" Gustavo shouted as loudly as he could.

He waited, arms clasped over his chest as rapid footsteps sounded from the floor of the bus above his head. He watched as the guys practically stumbled down the stairs, talking all at once and trying to figure out what was wrong and why he shouted for them.

"What's going on?" Carlos moved into a fighting stance and looked around wildly.

"You guys are late!" Gustavo replied and shoved a piece of paper into Kendall's face. He took it and read it over as Gustavo continued to speak. "You were supposed to keep up with your schedule for your radio show and so far, you have done nothing ever since we came on tour!"

"We've been kind of busy, Gustavo." James defended himself and his friends. "I mean, we've been doing rehearsal after rehearsal and then the concerts and we barely get any time to sleep."

"WHO NEEDS SLEEP?" Gustavo roared. "I'm paying a lot of money for you guys to have this radio show and I don't need you to ruin it, the future of Big Time Rush depends on it as well as the numbers from these concerts, so you guys just need to suck it up and get to work."

"Alright, alright." Kendall held his hands up as if he was making sure Gustavo wasn't going to attack them. "We're almost at the hotel and instead of sleeping like everyone else are going to be doing," he muttered under his breath and then spoke loudly for Gustavo to hear him. "We'll work on our next radio show."

"But how are we going to do that if most of our callers will be asleep?" Carlos questioned, scratching his head.

"MAKE IT WORK!" Gustavo replied.

"We'll just make it a podcast, simple." Logan replied, suddenly looking very tired. He turned to Gustavo with raised eyebrows. "Is that good for _you_ your highness?" he questioned before turning and walking back up the stairs.

"Did he just sass me?" Gustavo demanded, turning to the other three boys, who were halfway up the stairs. "Hey! Get back down here!"

"Gustavo, yelling at them isn't going to get them to do what you want," Kelly reminded her partner as she walked over to him, placing her hands on her hips, before shooting her arms out to the side to make sure that she didn't fall over as the bus mad a sharp turn. "Besides, I don't want to have to send you to the doctor _again_ because you lost your voice from shouting so much."

"But I can't get them to do what I want if I don't yell at them," Gustavo replied, sounding like he was whining.

"Have you thought of being nice?" Kelly prompted, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, if you want my head to implode." Gustavo replied and rolled his eyes. Kelly made a face in reply and he changed the subject, as these conversations happened almost every day. "So why does Kacy want to talk to us so badly? You know that I don't handle heart-to-hearts very well."

"Whoever said it was a heart-to-heart?" Kelly asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

"She's a chick and she wants to talk," Gustavo replied, sounding as if it was obvious. "Thus meaning that it's going to be a heart-to-heart where we all talk about your feelings and our emotions and-"he stopped abruptly, shuddering horribly.

"Remind me to kill you later for being so stereotypical," Kelly scoffed and turned around, walking back towards the front of the bus. Gustavo followed him and sat down on one of the couches. Julius, Brittany, and Mrs. Knight were up there with him and Ronan was nowhere in sight. "Where's Ronan?" Kelly questioned as she sat down as well.

"He went to see how much longer it was going to take until we got to the hotel." Julius replied. "Not that that's really going to matter, it's going to take a while to check in due to the fact that there's going to be paparazzi around."

"How do you know that?" Mrs. Knight asked as she looked over at the young man. She had been chewing on her lower lip out of nervousness, so there was a little bit of blood at the corner of her lip. Her hands were shaking in her lap.

Julius noticed right away and automatically had a guess as to what was wrong. He wouldn't say that he was a snoop, just someone that cared whenever something was bothering someone, a trait that all of the Jacksons seemed to have, even though they showed it in a different way. But he had known that Mrs. Knight wasn't acting like she usually did, baby her son and daughter and asked Ronan what was wrong. Ronan didn't want to tell him at first, but Julius reminded him that he was able to handle anything that Ronan had to tell him, as he was older and definitely trustworthy and Ronan relented and told him what was going on. Now he was on alert, just wondering whether or not Kendall or his sister had any idea what was going on, and wasn't surprised to see that they were going along as if nothing had happened.

He knew how not telling anyone her problems, besides Ronan, was going to eventually cause things to get worse for her, and knew that's why she wanted to talk to them that day.

But it still surprised him at how nervous she was about it.

"Well, the fact that PopTiger has been getting a lot of coverage on their tour as well as Riley's and Rhuben's relationships with Kendall and Logan," Julius stated as he scratched his forehead. "And the fact that it's one band that's really big that touring with a band that is getting bigger and bigger by the second." He shrugged. "You're bound to have paparazzi."

"How do you deal with it?" Kelly asked him, suddenly curious. "I know that you used to do music yourself and now being in the limelight because of your siblings can't be easy for you." She nodded over to Brittany, who was snuggled against Julius' side, listening. "Either of you."

"It's not that hard, really." Brittany stated as she shook her head. "They pretty much leave you alone if you take the time to be nice to them."

"If you're nice to whom?" Ronan questioned as he appeared in the doorway.

"Paparazzi," Kelly explained in one word. "I was wondering how you guys deal with it, so they can give advice to the guys just in case it gets even worse than it was when they were back in LA."

"Oh," Ronan moved his hands out to brace himself as the bus lurched to a stop. "It's an art-form really." He joked quickly. "So we're here at the hotel and I'm going to check everyone in before we go to find a place to talk, alright."

"Sounds good." Mrs. Knight smiled and gave a nod.

"Any ideas of what this is about?" Kelly asked as she reached out and placed a hand on Mrs. Knight's arm. She didn't know what was going on, and she knew that Gustavo didn't know what it was, as he really didn't know much of anything that wasn't music related.

"Trust me, it's very important." Mrs. Knight replied as she brushed her red hair out of her face. "Probably the most important thing that I need to make a decision about."

Ronan stood in the doorway as he watched the exchange, a funny expression on his face. Julius noticed and waved a hand towards his dad and Ronan blinked and looked away.

"So, let's get going, we really need to get all of our stuff into the rooms and I'm sure that the kids are exhausted." He ran his finger through his hair and left the bus, grabbing his wallet along the way.

Julius tried not to laugh as he stood up and started to gather his things.

His dad could be stern when he wanted, but he was _really bad_ at hiding things.

After Ronan had gone in and checked into the hotel, getting rooms for everyone, he went back to the bus and gave everyone a room key and quickly moved his stuff into the room that he and Julius were going to be sharing before the two of them left the hotel and met up with Kelly, Gustavo, Brittany, and Mrs. Knight and started to walk around until they found a coffee shop where they could talk. After ordering a round of lattes Mrs. Knight finally explained what was going on.

"So, I only told Ronan this, but my husband," she flushed a little, looking at Ronan from the corner of her eye. "Well, ex-husband, Kevin, wants to come back into my and the kids lives again." She waited, wanting to know what the others' reactions were.

Kelly placed a hand over her mouth, Julius tapped his hands on the sides of his cup, Ronan slouched low in his seat a little, Brittany's eyes widened, and Gustavo just sat there, looking dumb.

"So?" he questioned, earning a sharp elbow to both sides from Julius and Brittany.

"It's alright," Mrs. Knight replied, laughing a little. "I actually expected that as response from him." She fell silent again. "I just want to know what the rest of you think."

"Well, the real question isn't what we think about it," Brittany stated gently. "It's what you want to do about it? Do you want to confront him and ask why he had abandoned you guys when your kids were so young? Or do you want to continue to ignore him and not let him into your life again?" She shrugged. "We can't help you with the decision."

"I know that," Mrs. Knight nodded. "But even I'm not sure what to do, I mean, Katie had only two years ago stopped asking about her dad and I know that Kendall had never forgotten about it." She sighed again. "I just think that they should be able to have some closure with the whole thing and have Kevin explain to them why he left."

"Do _you_ know why he left?" Julius questioned, flicking his hair out of his face.

"No," Mrs. Knight shrugged. "Frankly I'm not even sure I want to know why he left, all I really care to remember about it is that we argued so much there was no point in even joking about it. I could feel that he was distancing himself from us for a while and when I had finally gotten the nerve to ask him about it, he turned it back around and said that he didn't want to be married to me anymore."

"Well, what did he say about Kendall and Katie?" Ronan questioned. He was sitting hunched over his cup of coffee, steam blowing up in his face. "Did he say anything about them?"

"He said that he was going to pay child support for them," Mrs. Knight screwed up her features in to a look of thoughtfulness. "But even that stopped after a while. He also said that he would continue to send them letters and stuff for their birthday but he didn't keep that promise as well."

"Well, in my opinion, I don't think that it would be a good idea for him to be brought back into their lives," Julius spoke up. "I mean, they're happy and they already have so much that's causing them stress what with the tour and everything. So I don't think that it would help them to see him now."

"Yeah, but think of how hurt they would be if they found out that their dad wants to see them but Mrs. Knight won't let them." Brittany added as she shook her head. "I'm sort of on the fence with this one, but I think that telling them is a good idea."

"What about you guys?" Mrs. Knight questioned, looking from Gustavo to Kelly to Ronan. "I want your input as well." She gave a smile. "Yours is the one that I value the most really."

"You already know my answer," Ronan shrugged and moved back from the cup of steaming coffee in his hands. "Though I doubt it's going to make much of a difference." He added and cleared his throat, tugging this collar. "I'll be right back; I'm going to go to the bathroom."

Gustavo got up to let Ronan out of his seat before sitting back down, making a loud grunting sound.

"The way I see it, your husband is scum for doing that to you and your kids." Gustavo announced his decision loudly. "No guy is a man if he walks out on his family and I don't think that you need to bring him back into your lives."

"You don't have to yell," Kelly reminded him. "We're right here."

"Sorry." He picked up his coffee and rained it in one gulp. He took the cap off and studied the inside of the cup. "They really need to put more coffee in these things." He got up and went to the counter to order another one.

"Really, Kacy, I think that you deserve a bit of closure, but I think that you should talk to him yourself before you bring him around Kendall and Katie again." She gave a smile. "They're like family to us and you know that we want to be as happy as possible. But you're their mother, so all decisions are ultimately up to you."

"Hm," Mrs. Knight rested her chin in her hand and turned her gaze to Julius. "What would you do in this situation?"

"Well my parents are dead," Julius blinked. "So I don't see how that-"

"No," Mrs. Knight chuckled. "I mean, what if Robert said that he was a changed man and that he was nice, and that he was let out on parole because he was on his 'best behavior' and he wanted to see your brothers and sisters again. What would you do?"

Brittany laughed sarcastically. "No point in asking that question, he's thought about it for a long time, ever since he came back to the United States." She bumped his shoulder with her own, rolling her eyes. "I can probably say, word for word, what his answer will be."

"You're probably right." Julius agreed with a chuckle of his own, smiling over at his fiancé before turning back to Mrs. Knight with a serious expression on his face. "The answer to that would be a swift hell no. Not just because of the fact that he had abused them for a long time, but even when he was sober and nice, he didn't act like a dad at all. He didn't care about what grades that they got on tests, he didn't care about the different skills that they learned to do, and he never really acted like a dad." He twisted his mouth to the side. "I never really had to think about it. I just knew. Then again it's not really my choice, its Ronan's."

"But you were technically your brothers and sisters guardian for a while," Kelly pointed out.

"That's true," Julius acknowledged. "But no one really saw it that way, at least, not officially. So I was pretty much only there for them when I wasn't doing school work as the police wouldn't actually let me be their guardian. That pissed me off more than it did the others."

"I can see why." Mrs. Knight sympathized. She pushed her coffee away as Gustavo came back and squeezed onto the seat again. "I don't know what to do."

"We can't help you make that decision, Kace." Kelly explained. "We can help by giving our advice, but it's ultimately up to you."

"Ugh, could you stop saying that?" Mrs. Knight whined playfully, covering her ears with her hands. "It's really not helping me."

"No one ever said that friends were helpful." Gustavo pointed out as he started to down another cup of latte.

"You didn't have many friends when you were young did you?" Julius questioned bluntly. Brittany made a gasping sound and elbowed him in the side, causing him to choke on his drink. "Oh come on," he turned an annoyed gaze to Brittany. "You know that he doesn't really take offense to anything anyone says."

"I'll let that one slide," Gustavo stated, narrowing his eyes a little. "But only because I know that if I kill you there will be _way_ too many witnesses."

"Good to know." Julius replied, slowly pulling his arms out of harm's way. He looked at his watch. "Wow, we've been talking longer than I thought." He motioned over his shoulder. "I'm sure that we should be getting back, who knows what kind of trouble the others are getting into."

"Do you really think that they're up to something?" Kelly questioned as she and Gustavo slid out of the booth.

"If you leave any of my brothers or sisters alone for over ten minute, you can be sure that they're up to something." Julius replied.

"Hm," Brittany pretended to think as she put her jacket on. "I wonder where they got _that_ from." She smirked over at Julius, who just looked at the ceiling, pretending not to know what she was talking about.

"Well, the dogs better be working on that radio show when I get back, or there's going to suffer the consequences." Gustavo threatened.

"What're you going to do? Sit on them?" Julius slapped his hands over his mouth as soon as the words came out of his mouth and his eyes widened. "Dang it, I gotta stop doing that!" He stated and ran away as fast as he could as Gustavo reached out for him.

"Don't even try it," Kelly stated, putting out his arms and stopping him. "He'll just outrun you each and every time you try and reach for him." She patted Gustavo on the back and the two started to walk out. Kelly stopped when she realized that Mrs. Knight wasn't following them. "Aren't you coming, Kacy?"

"I'm going to wait for, Ronan." Mrs. Knight replied as she grabbed her coat and held it in her arms. "We'll meet you guys back at the hotel."

"Alright," Kelly waved. "See you later."

Mrs. Knight waved back and perched on the edge of the table as she waited for Ronan to come back from the bathroom. '_Ugh, talking to them really didn't help much._' She thought to herself. '_I mean, half of them say that I should bring him back and the other half think that it's really a bad idea and I still don't know what I want to do myself. Too bad answers to these kinds of things don't just fall out of the sky._'

"Did I run everyone off?"

Mrs. Knight looked up to see Ronan standing beside her, getting his coat and his wallet off of the table. He pulled out a ten dollar bill and dropped it onto the table before sliding his coat on over his shoulders.

Mrs. Knight smiled. "No, they just wanted to get back to the hotel before someone blows it up." She replied.

"My first guess to that would have to be Patrick then," Ronan replied with a short sigh. "Seeing as he once almost blew up the kitchen trying to make me breakfast." He made a face. "I really didn't think that it was possible, but he's probably the one who can do it." He flicked his head to the side. "C'mon." he led her out of the coffee shop and the two started to walk back to the hotel. "I didn't think that anyone would be waiting for me."

"Is something wrong?" Mrs. Knight questioned as she peered at him.

"Nah, my stomach just started feeling funny." Ronan replied, looking straight ahead. "No big deal, I'll just have Logan or Riley look at me later." He laughed a humorless laugh. "I mean, since they want t be doctors and everything, they might as well get the practice."

"But you've been acting funny the past couple of days," Mrs. Knight pointed out. "Like there's something on your mind?" she phrased it like a question, trying to get him to talk.

"Of course there's been something on my mind," Ronan looked at her incredulously as he stopped walking. He turned to face her completely and looked down at her. "The fact that I'm now taking care of six kids, one of which who is getting married, the other five are on a world tour and have to worry about practically everything, and you know, trying to keep myself sane." He let out a snort, his breath turning into a foggy cloud. "I'd say that's a lot on my mind, so I would be acting funny."

"Are you doing acting like a little kid?" Mrs. Knight questioned as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"That depends, are you going to punish me for acting like a kid?" Ronan snapped back in reply.

"One thing that I really don't like is when someone patronizes me," Mrs. Knight stated as patiently as she could. "So don't even try it here."

"You know you're starting to sound like my daughter." Ronan remarked off-handedly. "Not that that makes things any better, but it just makes me even more annoyed."

"Well, could at least explain to me why I'm bothering you?" Mrs. Knight looked genuinely confused. "I mean, because out of everyone here you're the one that I'm closest to, and we have a lot in common because the oldest out of our children are both criminal masterminds." She tried to make a joke of it but Ronan continued to stare at her. "At least make it easier for me."

"Do you still love him?" Ronan questioned.

"Who? Kevin?" Mrs. Knight wanted to laugh but decided not to, knowing that it wasn't going to do anything to help how he was feeling. "No, I can't love someone that hurt my children so badly."

"He hurt you too," Ronan pointed out.

"Yeah," Mrs. Knight pulled her hair out f her face. "But I care about my kids being hurt more than myself." She shrugged. "I don't know, I guess I hadn't really thought about it for a long time."

"Just so you know, holding something like that inside and not talking about it will just 'cause you to express it later," Ronan smirked. "I know that the hard way."

"Yeah, I remember." Mrs. Knight nodded, immediately knowing what he was talking about. She licked her lips. "We should be getting back to the hotel."

"Wait." Ronan gently grabbed onto her arm. "Just so you know, I know that you're going to make the right decision for your kids."

"Thank You."

Ronan finally gave an actual smile and stepped closer to her, cupping her face in his hands and kissed her.

* * *

"I don't even know why I agreed to come and help you guys with this," Rhuben grumbled, pulling her sweatshirt over her legs. "I'm tired as fuck and somehow you guys talk me into missing sleep to help you with this stupid radio thing."

"Oh come on," James pulled some headphones over his ears. "Would you rather have Gustavo yell at us for not letting us have it done?"

"If it means me getting to sleep, yeah," Rhuben replied and pulled up the hood to her sweatshirt and curled up into a ball, resting her head against the wall that she was leaning again.

"Thanks a lot, Beautiful." James rolled his eyes as he continued to help Logan and Kendall set up their radio stuff.

"You're welcome, Handsome."

"Where's Carlos?" Logan questioned, suddenly looking up. "You know that it can't be a very good thing if he's gone by himself for too long."

"Probably sleeping, like everyone else is." Rhuben shot back crankily.

"I promise that you can go to sleep as soon as we're done with this," Logan stated as he walked over to his girlfriend and kneeled down beside her. "Besides, you're doing me a huge favor if we can get this done before and put up on the site before Gustavo gets back." Rhuben turned her blue eyes to him in a glare. "Do you want me to beg? Because I'll get on my knees and beg you to do this for me."

"As much as I would love to see that, I'll have to pass." Rhuben replied after a second. "But this means that you're going to have to do a favor for me when I need it."

"Well, what's that?" Logan asked, looking slightly worried.

"Nothing illegal, don't worry about that." Rhuben replied and closed her eyes as Logan moved forward and kissed her forehead. "But it's going to be something that you're not going to like."

"I was afraid of that." Logan sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Carlos, put me down!" Everyone turned to see Carlos walking back into the room, Riley draped over his shoulder, hanging like a rag doll. "Why didn't you just get Stephanie to help you, I'm sure she knows more about this kind of stuff than I do."

"Yeah, but I'm sure that you know more about interviews than she does." Carlos replied and turned to look at her, effectively smacking her head into the doorway of the room. He squeezed his eyes shut as the others made 'oohing' sounds and Riley made a grunting sound of pain. "Sorry." He gently lowered her to the ground.

"I think that explains why my jokes are always so stupid," Riley groaned, sitting on the ground as she held onto her forehead. "I'm losing brain cells from being hit in the head all the time."

"Not to mention you're a klutz." Rhuben commented.

"Thanks for that." Riley replied sarcastically.

"No problem."

"Are you ok, Ruby?" Kendall questioned, chuckling a little bit as Carlos hovered around her, asking her over and over again if she was ok and saying that he was sorry.

"I'm fine," Riley replied, pulling her hand away from her forehead where a red lump appeared. "I've been hurt worse." She tried not to laugh when Carlos continued to repeat that he was sorry. "Carlitos, it's ok. It was just an accident."

"Well, here, take this." Carlos pulled a slip of paper out of his pocket and shoved it into her hand.

"A coupon redeemable for a hug from Carlos?" Riley read off the sheet of paper. She looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. "Am I the only one that thinks that this is stupid?" she questioned.

"No." Logan, Kendall, and James replied in unison.

Carlos grabbed onto Riley's hands and pulled her to her feet before going over to Rhuben and grabbing her as well. He ushered the two girls over to the table in the corner of the room as Kendall checked over everything that they needed to be sure that the radio show would work properly.

"So, um, what are we supposed to do if we do a podcast?" Carlos questioned, pulling headphones over his ears.

"You haven't done a podcast before?" Rhuben questioned, raising her eyebrows. "Man, what would you guys do without us around?"

"Probably crash and burn," Kendall replied matter-of-factly. "Or Gustavo would have killed us about twenty-thousand times so far." He ran his hands over each other and then looked at his watch. "We should get started though, I'm sure that the adults will be back soon."

"Ok, well, first things first what you guys want is to talk about a topic that will reach out to your fans," Riley instructed. "You know, because your radio show is all about helping people. Then you want to mix in something else that will entertain them, like, your rating on a movie that just came out. And some other stuff like that."

"So what should we talk about?" Logan questioned as he turned on the tape and made sure that the microphone could get everyone's voices. "I mean, there haven't been many movies or anything that came out lately that I wanted to see."

"How about," Kendall trailed off as he thought for a second. "We talk about what you guys can get me for my birthday, tomorrow." He grinned at each of his friends as they stared back at him. "What?"

* * *

**A/N: Next chapter has Kendall's and Jo's birthday and things amp up a little bit more there. There's going to be more of WayneWayne, Stephanie, Camille, and Jo as well as showing more into the guys' problems, so it's going to be a longer chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed this one, even though it was a little short (at least shorter than usual). I'll update again soon.**

**-Riley**


	9. Big Time Double Birthday

**Chapter Nine – Big Time Double Birthday**

**A/N: All chapters from now own are mostly going to be focused on drama/angst**

**

* * *

**"Hey, wake up." Logan groaned and ran a hand over his face, rubbing his eyes before looking over at his watch. He groaned when he realized that it was only seven-fifteen in the morning. He rolled back over and pulled the covers back over his head, silently cursing the hotel for giving him a wakeup call.

They were still in Las Vegas and had been treated to hotel rooms in the best hotel in the city for free after they had helped the police catch the thieves that had stolen some priceless jewelry. The adults weren't that happy about them causing so much trouble, but they were definitely happy that they were able to get a place for free. It was probably the best place that Logan had ever stayed in and now his sleep pattern was going to be completely thrown out of whack, no matter how hard he tried to get to sleep.

And now here someone was, trying to wake him up.

"Hey!" A hand reached under his blankets and grabbed onto his big toe twisting it.

Logan's eyes flew open and he opened his mouth to let out a cry of pain but a hand shot out and slapped over his mouth, to keep him quiet.

"I wouldn't have had to do that if you had just woken up the first time, Logie-Bear." A voice said as the hand moved from Logan's mouth.

"Only two people would be so evil to actually do that to wake someone up by twisting their big toe," Logan sighed, wishing that he could just close his eyes and go back to sleep again, but he knew that that wasn't going to happen. "And because I know that Rhuben sleeps like a rock, I would have to guess that it was Riley." The person grabbed onto Logan's arm and rolled him over. Rhuben stared at him as she raised an eyebrow. Logan smiled tiredly. "And by a rock I mean the jewelry that you can find in them."

"Nice save." She remarked, dryly.

"What do you need?" Logan questioned, propping himself up on his palm. "It's only seven-fifteen in the morning." He yawned as he rubbed his eyes again before noticing something. "How did you get in here anyway? You don't have a key."

"What do you think a credit card is for," Rhuben replied and rolled her eyes. "I know that it wasn't the smartest idea in the world, but I knew that you wouldn't answer your cell if I called it."

"You got that right." Logan commented.

"But I _did_ say that you owe me a favor and I _did_ say that you weren't going to like it," Rhuben reminded him.

"Yeah, but I didn't think that you would have wanted that favor redeemed the very next day." Logan continued to stall for time as he lay back down again, closing his eyes. "What is it that's so bad that you want me to do?"

"Well for one, it's waking up so early," Rhuben replied. "And two you're going to come and help me find a birthday present for Jo."

"You know I hate shopping." Logan stated, opening one eye to look at his girlfriend.

"Yes, I remember," Rhuben chuckled a little. "Your mom had to actually drag you with her every time she needed to go shopping somewhere." She tapped her chin. "If I'm not mistaken, you once hid out in our coat closet once, just to make sure that she didn't find you before she took you shopping somewhere."

"Whatever," Logan grumbled and his lips turned into a barely-there pout. "But I should be getting something out of this."

"You are," Rhuben nodded. "You're spending the day with me." She smiled.

"Hm," Logan's pout turned to a smile. "That's a reward in itself." He closed his eyes as Rhuben moved forward and kissed him. He pulled away from a minute and sat up, swinging his legs to the floor before running his fingers through Rhuben's hair and kissing her again.

They kissed for close to ten minutes, enjoying each other's company. Logan had Rhuben pulled so close to him that they could have been meshed together to be one person. Rhuben's hands were in Logan's hair, gently pulling at the strands and rubbing his neck, sending waves of pleasure down his spine. It gave him chills in a way that only Rhuben could.

All of a sudden Logan pulled away, a suspicious look on his face.

"What?" Rhuben questioned innocently, tucking her hair behind her ears.

"I know you so well that I know that having to wake up early wouldn't be what I wouldn't want to do for a favor," Logan stated slowly. "And because I'm smart, I also know that it's not that I have to go shopping with you." His eyes narrowed even further. "What stores are we going to?"

"You should get dressed and I better get out of here before someone comes by, namely Carlos because we all know how much he likes to cuddle." Rhuben stated as she got to her feet and started to back away. "And we should move fast because we don't have much time before we have to go to a sound check."

"Bella?" Logan questioned, sounding annoyed. "What stores are we going to?" his voice suddenly switched to one of horror. "We're going to _girly_ stores aren't we? You know how I feel about them? Bells? Bella!"

* * *

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JO!"

Jo jumped as Carlos and Stephanie jumped in front of her and blew noise makers in her face as they threw confetti. She laughed as the two started to dance around, continuing to throw confetti in the air, so it rained down like snow, and blow huge breaths of air into their noisemakers.

"Where did you guys get the confetti?" She asked, brushing some off of her arms and out of her hair. "Thanks by the way."

"We've had this stuff ready just in case someone's birthday came up," Stephanie explained as she gave her girlfriend a hug. Carlos was still dancing around. "And of _course_ we had to get the noise makers as soon as we saw them, and the confetti we made by cutting up many strips of paper."

"Ok, my other question is how did he get in here and where is everyone else?" Jo asked, feeling kind of upset that it wasn't everyone that had greeted her happy birthday as soon as she had woken up. Plus, she needed to find Kendall so she could say happy birthday to her birthday twin.

"Rhuben dragged Logan off to some stores so she could get you a really good gift," Carlos finally took the noise maker out of his mouth. "Katie, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney are in the Jacksons' suite getting the rest of the decorations, Kendall is still asleep, James is somewhere, and Camille, WayneWayne, and Riley are making you guys breakfast." Carlos replied and sniffed the air loudly. "I just love the smell of someone else's breakfast cooking in the morning."

"What about the adults?" Jo ran her fingers through her hair.

"What do you mean?" Carlos and Stephanie asked in unison, blinking once.

Jo laughed again, using both hands to move her hair out of her face. Sometimes she was surprised that Carlos and Stephanie weren't related as they both acted the same way. Sure Stephanie was a little more serious than he was, but she knew how to have a good time, and that was a welcome change. It was no surprise that these people were her best friends; they all completed each other in many different ways.

"Nothing," she yawned a little. "Let me just get dressed and then you guys can pamper me like I deserve." She smiled and went back to her room, gathering her clothes and then went to go take a shower as Carlos and Stephanie went to watch some TV while they waited.

The bathroom was enormous and one that a girl definitely could get used to. Jo started humming to herself as she turned on the water before shedding her pajamas and stepping into the shower.

She smiled as the warm water ran over her skin. Her mind started to wander before it settled on thinking about the tour. For whatever reason she felt that she shouldn't be there. Sure, her friends invited her along and sure the Jacksons were paying her help set up music equipment, but she felt that she wasn't really contributing much to what they were doing.

_I'm not doing much for anything really, other than making James happy 'cause I'm around._ Jo frowned as she ran her fingers through her hair, soap suds squishing through her fingers. _I don't want to go home, but I don't think that I should be here anymore_. _What's a girl to do?_

Jo finished taking a shower and dried off, put on some clothes, and tossed her pajamas in her room before going back to the main area of the suite. Carlos and Stephanie were still watching TV and Stephanie were making some sort of a comment about how shaky the camera was.

"I'm ready to get that breakfast that you were talking about." Jo stated with a wide smile, placing her hands on her hips. "Not unless you want to just sit on your butts and watch Cartoons all day."

"Nah, it's a re-run anyway," Carlos replied and turned off the TV. He and Stephanie went over to Jo and the three of them went to the Jacksons' penthouse (It was the only thing that would fit all of them rather than having the hotel give then numerous rooms). As soon as Jo had knocked on the door, it had flown open and Sydney attached himself to her waist.

"Happy Birthday, Joey!" he cried, smiling so wide Jo was surprised his cheeks hadn't split open.

"Happy Birthday, Jo!" Katie, Patrick, Noah, Riley, Camille, and WayneWayne repeated, stopping whatever they were doing and smiling at her.

"Come on, you have to see the gift that I got you!" Sydney grabbed onto Jo's hand and started to drag her across the suite, but Patrick reached out and grabbed onto his ankle as he headed by her. He, Noah, and Katie were looking through a box of decorations.

"Let her open the gift later when Kendall is here as well," Patrick advised him and then smiled up at Jo. "Trust me; you're going to like it."

Jo looked a little suspicious. "It's not going to blow up in my face is it?" she questioned.

"No," Noah reassured her quickly. "It's not going to blow up, trust me," he gave a half-smile and nodded over at his sister. "Riles made sure of that when we told her what we would be getting you."

"Thanks for that," Jo smiled as Riley walked over and gave her friend a hug. "You know the last thing that I would have wanted was to have to worry about being injured from a gift." Riley laughed and kept her arm around Jo's shoulders.

"No worries," Riley replied, shaking her head. "I know how tricky they can get, and they're the only ones that absolutely LOVE fireworks so I knew that I should keep an eye on them."

"Where are Ronan and your brother?" Jo asked, looking around. "I can't believe that they would leave you here and not think that you guys were going to destroy something."

"You know, everyone says that," Riley joked, shaking her head. "Seriously, them, Brittany, Mama Knight, Kelly, and Gustavo went to check out the venue to make sure that everything is ok. But they'll be back later." She turned and went back to the stove, where something was cooking as WayneWayne and Camille went over to give her hugs as well.

"How does it feel to be seventeen along with the rest of us?" Camille asked teasingly, giving her friend a crushing hug.

"Yeah, how does it feel to still be the youngest out of us?" WayneWayne added with a grin. He hesitated with giving her a hug, he was their friend, but still not used to it, plus he was never sure whether or not any of them actually accepted him in their group of friends.

"It's good to be older," Jo nodded in agreement, laughing when she noticed that Patrick and Noah were then tying their baby brother up in streamers while Katie stuck bows all over him. "But I hate to be the youngest, it means that I get to do everything last."

"Yes, but that also means that we're going to die before you." WayneWayne stated, trying to get her to laugh. Both girls just looked at him strangely. "I'll shut up."

"Good idea." Camille stated and then peered at Jo, gently grabbing her arm. "Jo, are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm good." Jo nodded firmly. "I'm just a little tired; I didn't get up until about a half hour ago." She then smiled fully. "And don't worry; we're still going out to go dress shopping for my party tonight."

"You mean yours and Kendall's party?" Camille corrected with a raise of an eyebrow.

"Sure," Jo waved a hand. "But we all know that when it comes to birthdays, it's way more important for a girl than a guy."

"I have to agree with you there," Camille agreed with a laugh and brushed her hair behind her ears. "But you'd tell me, or Steph, or Riles and Rhubes if something was bothering you, right?"

"You know I would, 'Mille." Jo replied with a half-smile.

"Yeah, I know," Camille turned her head and gave a little jump when she saw some sort of decoration that the boys were holding. "Ooh, let me help!" She hurried over to the others and started to help set up some decorations.

Jo smiled at her friends before turning around and heading over towards Riley. "I can help you with some of that." She stated.

"No worries," Riley lifted her head and brushed her hair behind her. "It's your birthday; you just sit there and enjoy it."

"But I want to feel useful." Jo replied as she moved over to a counter and pulled herself up on to it, kicking her legs back and forth. "I want to do something, I don't like having _everything_ given to me so I'm waited on hand and foot."

"You are," Riley placed a hand on her hip and turned to Jo with an odd expression on her face. "More than you think." She checked the food that was cooking on the stove one more time before crossing her arms over her chest. "What's going on in your mind, girlie?" she questioned.

"Nothing," Jo shook her head and changed the subject. "Have you noticed that James isn't here yet? I figured he'd be the first one to wish me happy birthday instead of having confetti thrown in my face by Carlos and Stephanie."

"You didn't enjoy that?" Riley asked, the corner of her lip twitching.

"I just find it odd," Jo explained. "James has been disappearing a lot lately."

"Yeah, well, if it makes you feel any better, something has been up with all of the guys." Riley shrugged. "I'm not the only one that's noticed it, but they haven't said much or acted that differently so I'm not worried about it." She peered at her friend. "Are you worried about James?"

Jo just shrugged her shoulders in reply.

Riley shrugged again and went back to finishing breakfast for everyone. There was one thing she knew for sure, even if a birthday is one of the happiest things you can have, not everyone was going to enjoy it.

And Jo was definitely not an exception.

There was a knock at the door and WayneWayne got up to answer it, smiling when James slid into the apartment. "Glad you're finally here, man." He stated, slapping James on the back. "We could use your help to put up the rest of the decorations."

"I'll be sure to help," James replied, clasping WayneWayne's hand in his before bringing him forward and slapping him on the back. He nodded rapidly. "You know, when I want to." WayneWayne rolled his eyes as James laughed and went over to Jo, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug.

"Happy Birthday, Babe." He kissed her passionately.

Jo giggled against his lips and kissed him back. "Thanks James." She pulled away, reaching up to brush his hair out of his face. "Where were you earlier?"

"Where was I?" James repeated and licked his lips when Jo nodded earnestly, taking his hand in hers and gently swinging them back and forth. "Oh, I was at the gym."

"Again?" Jo stopped swinging their hands. "But you were just there last night."

"I know," James nodded again. "But the treadmill was taken last night so I went in earlier today to get it and just ran a little bit." He smiled. "And you have to admit, going to the gym is making me that much handsomer."

"Can't argue there." Jo smiled and kissed him again.

Unbeknownst to Jo, her agreement to his comment was just going to cause James to have more problems than he bargained for.

* * *

Kendall frowned at the envelope that lay on the table across from him. He knew that it was from his father, just by looking at the handwriting. Handwriting that was once so sloppy that it was comical was now mocking him as he stared at it. He had just come out of the shower, getting ready to head over to the Jacksons' room when he noticed the envelope that was sitting by the room.

Obviously the other guys weren't there or they would have given him the envelope earlier. But that wasn't what was bothering him, oh no, it was the fact that he was surprised that his father knew where he was, to give him mail. Even his fans didn't know what address to send fan-mail to. It sort of scared him and he didn't know what to do about it.

Kendall sighed and rubbed his chin. He crossed his legs. He uncrossed his legs. He ran his hands over his face. He ran his hands through his hair. He tapped his feet against the ground, his sighs accompanying his movements.

Finally, he got up and walked over to the envelope, stared at it for a moment, and then grabbed it in his hand. He seemed to weigh it in his hand before opening the back and pulling out the card. On the front was a childish picture of a bear playing hockey.

"Thinking of you on your special day," Kendall read out loud and snorted a little as he opened the card to read the inside. "Have a Happy Birthday." His eyes moved down lower where he could see his father's writing again. "Kendall today is your 17th birthday and it should be a day where you are spending it with your family and friends. Have a great day and I hope we get in touch soon."

Kendall stared at the card for a few seconds and then frisbeed it to the side. He didn't bother to retrieve it. "Yeah right, dad." He muttered under his breath. Subconsciously, his hand moved to his right back pocket, where the first letter that his dad had sent him resided.

He pulled it out and looked at it for a few minutes and crumpled it up in his hand, bringing up his arm to throw it. But he lowered his hand back down and shoved it back into his pocket. It wasn't even his letter anyway, it was his mom's and he should bring it back to her.

_But then again, mom didn't tell me that dad had written us a letter, and I'm almost sure that she hadn't even noticed that this was gone, so I don't know if she deserves to have it back._ Kendall thought to himself. He rolled his shoulders, cracked his knuckles, and turned and left the suite without a second thought.

He could hear his friends' excited voices and laughter as he approached the Jacksons' penthouse and couldn't help but smile. He learned long ago that wherever the Jacksons were, there was going to be a lot of noise. Ronan had told him that himself, the only thing that he didn't like about the Jacksons at times was that you couldn't go more than five minutes without someone yelling, but it was also something that he loved about them as well and Kendall could see why.

He knocked on the door to the room and waited for someone to open the door. He was greeted with a bright flash and confetti thrown in his face as well as noise makers blown in his face before Katie ran over to him to give him a hug.

"Happy Birthday, Kendall!" Kendall reached down and grabbed Katie up in his arms and gave her a bear hug, rocking her back and forth. Katie started to make choking sounds as he gave her a big kiss on the cheek. "Gross!" she cried, trying to push him away. "Let go!"

Kendall laughed as he set his sister on the ground and then flinched as a noisemaker unraveled in his face and the sound of an obnoxious note filled his ears. "Happy Birthday, buddy!" Carlos shouted as Stephanie threw another handful of confetti in the air.

"So can I guess that they got this from that decorations box?" Kendall stated to Katie, motioning over to the box that sat in the center of the room.

"The streamers, hats, and balloons are from the box," Katie replied as waved her arms around to point out the decorations. "But the confetti and the noise makers are from Carlos' stash of supplies for New Years," she shook her head. "And I'm not sure how much of the stuff he has but it must be a lot because he's throwing it around as if he's a fairy."

"That doesn't surprise me, really." Kendall stated. His eyes narrowed. "Does he seem a little more hyper to you? Like, he's trying to prove something."

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing," Katie nodded. "But I didn't want to ask him just in case I was wrong."

"Well, I can just as Steph or Pat or No, I'm sure one of them would know." Kendall replied and purposely messed up her hair before walking over to the kitchen to his girlfriend. "Hi." He greeted her.

"Hey!" Riley smiled at him before placing her hands on his chest, grabbing the front of his shirt in two fistfuls and pulling him towards her, kissing him hard. "Happy Birthday, Hockey-Head." She stated breathlessly after she pulled away.

"Wow," Kendall smiled. "I should have a birthday more often."

"Yeah," Riley rolled her eyes. "If you want me to go through like, thirty cases of chap-stick."

"It'll be worth it." Kendall pointed out. Riley made a grunting sound and he laughed before helping her load up some plates of food and walk them to the table. He sat down in an empty chair and leaned back as Riley started to walk drinks back and forth. "What's on your mind?" he questioned after a few seconds of watching her. "You haven't said much."

"I was going to ask you the same thing, honestly." Riley replied, surprising him. Really, he shouldn't have been surprised at all. The Jacksons all had the uncanny ability to know when something was bothering someone, even if they refused to admit it. "But decided not to because it's your birthday."

"But you're going to ask me later anyway." Kendall stated.

"Exactly," Riley replied simply before turning to everyone else. "Breakfast time guys, we're just going to get started, the others will be here later."

Everyone got up and flocked over to the table, talking excitedly. They dug into breakfast and started to talk about the concert that was going to be that night and they all agreed that it was going to be one of the best, as they were in Vegas and it was probably one of the only places that never seemed to stop moving. There was no doubt about it, that they were all excited to see what the concert was going to be like that night.

Halfway through eating, Logan and Rhuben strolled through the front door of the room, shivering a little bit. "Do you know how cold it's getting lately?" Rhuben questioned irritably as she tossed a bag to the ground. She glanced at it and then over at Jo. "Don't worry about it, it's not easily breakable." She stated with a smile. "Happy Birthday, guys."

"Thanks." Kendall and Jo chorused.

"Do you know how many girly stores she dragged me to?" Logan questioned his eyes as wide as they were when he met Gustavo the first time. "I thought Gustavo was evil, but this was just ridiculous." Rhuben looked over at Sydney, who obediently looked at his lap, before she raised a hand and gave her boyfriend the finger. "That's real nice."

"Well, I doubt that you guys could have been doing much shopping." WayneWayne stated, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Oh yeah," Rhuben mimicked him and crossed her arms over her chest as well, raising an eyebrow. "What gives you that idea?"

"There's some lip gloss on Logan's neck."

* * *

"This is a great cake, Julius." Camille stated as she licked her lips before taking another bite of the chocolate-coconut cake that was on her plate. "What do you call it?" She and the rest of their friends were back at the Jacksons' penthouse after the concert (which had gone really well) and were eating desert before Kendall and Jo opened their presents.

"Store-bought." Julius replied without a moment's hesitation. He smiled as everyone laughed. "I can't bake to save my life. I can cook, but I can't bake."

"You got that right." Ronan commented from the floor. Sydney was sitting on his lap, playing with his hands. "I swear I got food poisoning from those cookies that you baked last time."

"What cookies?" Rhuben asked, looking a little confused.

"You know the chocolate-chip macadamia ones." Ronan replied, with an eyebrow raise.

"Those were mine!" Brittany stated, looking offended.

"Way to go." Rhuben stated, shaking her head. She then looked over at Carlos, who was eating his cake silently. "What's up with you? Normally you're on your sixth slice by now and that's only because you would be challenging Pat in an eating contest." She smiled and Carlos looked at her briefly.

"I'm not that hungry, surprisingly." He sounded surprised himself. "I don't know, I must have a lot on my mind."

"You want to talk about it?" Rhuben set down her piece of cake and looked at her friend with an apathetic expression. "I'll be glad to listen." She was quick to add, "Or make you laugh, whichever one will make you feel better."

"Nothing will really help me right now." Carlos replied. "Excuse me." He got up and went to the bathroom. Rhuben took that time to slide over to Stephanie and to get her attention.

"Hey Steph, what's up with Carlos?" she asked quietly. "He's acting kinda funny."

"Yeah, I know," Stephanie sounded weary. "He always tries to put on this façade that things are fine, and will act more hyper than usual, but it's just because he's stressed." She continued when Rhuben's eyebrow twitched. "He read on the website that the fans like Kendall, Logan, and James more than him and it took a big blow to his self-esteem."

"I getcha," Rhuben nodded. "Patrick had the same problem when a lot of people said that they liked Sydney more, but what can you do." She shrugged. "You can't beat a kid with dimples and a cute smile." She twisted her mouth to the side. "Well, just let me know if you need any help with him or anything, I'm sure the boys wouldn't mind talking with him."

"That's so nice," Stephanie smiled. "You guys are awesome, you know that."

"Well, they helped us with our problems; we might as well return the favor." Rhuben replied.

Across the room, Kendall was just picking at his plate of cake, listening to the conversation around him, but not paying that much attention to it. He wasn't the only one acting weird, he knew that something was up with his mother as well, he could see it in her eyes earlier that day when she had given him a hug and tell him happy birthday, but didn't pressure her about it.

And if anyone else knew they were being polite and were trying to keep it quiet just because it was their birthday.

"Kendall," Mrs. Knight grabbed onto her son's arm and pulled him off to the side so no one could hear them. She looked over at Katie, who was still eating cake and talking with Patrick, Noah, and Sydney. "This is going to sound weird," she started and took a breath. "But you didn't get a card or a letter from anybody that wasn't a fan did you?"

Kendall knew that she was talking about his father without mentioning him directly. It was a clever ploy to keep him from knowing what he already did and he didn't want to upset her by saying that he knew that his father wanted them back in his life, especially since he was still trying to figure out whether or not he wanted to himself.

"No," Kendall shook his head. "I didn't get anything."

* * *

**A/N: I did the best I could with showing a little bit of everyone, I hope the pacing was ok, because there were parts that I liked and parts that I didn't like. (I don't like how I ended it) I needed to put in a little bit with Ronan and Mrs. Knight, but other than that I didn't want to put much of them there. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and I'll update again soon. Next chapter has to do more with the guys. Hope you guys had a Merry Christmas and will have an Awesome New Year.**

**-Riley**


	10. Big Time Problems Part 1

**.:****Chapter Ten – Big Time Problems****:.**

**Part 1**

**

* * *

**"Faster, Patrick, faster!" Sydney cried gleefully, his small hands holding tightly onto the seat buckle that was across his lap. Patrick smiled and did as he was told, pressing his foot harder onto the cart, holding onto the steering wheel tightly.

Noah was sitting at Patrick's side in the passenger seat, Sydney was sitting in the back, and Riley and Rhuben were holding onto the back of the cart as they sat on the tops of the backseat. All of them were whooping and hollering with excitement as Patrick did doughnuts across the standing area of the arena floor. Julius and Brittany were walking around with the stage hands, instructing them for what they needed later that night while taking Big Time Rush on a tour of the arena along with Jo, Camille, Stephanie, Katie, and WayneWayne. While that was going on, Ronan was looking over the lighting and keeping an eye on the Jacksons at the same time as they were easily bound to get in some sort of trouble if they were bored enough.

They were in the Capital Stadium in Cheyenne, Wyoming getting ready for the concert that night. It was going to be one of the biggest concerts that they have because that morning they had gotten the news that it was the first concert that had sold out for them. Everyone was really excited when they heard that news, Gustavo especially; he even went out and bought two cakes for them to have after the concert, one for him and one for everyone else. Plus it was going to be their last concert before Thanksgiving which was coming up in the next week. No one was sure whether or not they were going to be in Minnesota for Thanksgiving and none of the boys wanted to say anything against it, just in case they jinxed themselves.

"Aren't you going to stop them?" Ronan looked over at Mrs. Knight with surprise as she walked over to him, her purse hitched up over her shoulder and her eyes filled with concern trained on the Jacksons. Ronan looked at her for a second and then smiled and shook his head as he turned and watched his sons and daughters as they drove around. "Don't you think they're going to get hurt?"

"Maybe," he replied with a short shrug. "But not that badly. But there's no point in stopping them because they're going to be stopped," he held up his hand where three of his fingers were in the air. "Three, Two, One." He lowered a finger each time he stated a number and then pointed when he said one. Just as soon as he finished counting the screaming started.

"Patrick, put on the brakes!" Riley was shouting. "The brakes! The brakes!"

"I'm heard you the _first time_!" Patrick replied as he slammed his feet down on a pedal. "And I'm _trying!"_

"That's the gas pedal, you idiot!" Noah shrieked and moved his feet in Patrick's way, trying to find the brakes himself.

"I'm going to die!" Sydney held his hands over his face. "And I'm only ten!"

"Look out!" Rhuben screamed.

Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney screamed as the cart shot forward and crashed into the wall, ejecting the Jacksons like they were a bunch of torpedoes. They all easily climbed back to their feet and once they made sure that each other were ok, they hurried over to the cart, with smiles on their faces and laughing a little. They continued to laugh as Patrick and Noah pulled the cart away from the wall, revealing that the front part was completely crushed.

"I can just hear my bank account crying with agony," Ronan joked as he turned around and sat down on top of a chair behind him as he looked at Mrs. Knight with a contemplative expression on his face. "So what brings you by?"

"You don't have to act that way with me," Mrs. Knight stated as she dropped her purse to the ground, being careful that no popcorn or gum got stuck to it. Ronan looked at his nails and Mrs. Knight placed her hands on her hips. "Just tell me how you're feeling." She smiled a little, trying to relieve the tension. "Sometimes you act just like your kids."

"Yeah, they rubbed off on me," Ronan stated and looked scared of the thought. "I wish it was the other way around though." He paused. "I'm not acting like anything." He shrugged. "I'm just getting ready for the concert; it kind of has been eating up my time."

"Yeah," Mrs. Knight nodded slowly. "So you just so happen to be avoiding me since the last time we talked."

"If you want to be completely honest, we didn't do much talking." Ronan pointed out with a twitch at the corner of his mouth.

_"Did I run everyone off?"_

_Mrs. Knight looked up to see Ronan standing beside her, getting his coat and his wallet off of the table. He pulled out a ten dollar bill and dropped it onto the table before sliding his coat on over his shoulders._

_Mrs. Knight smiled. "No, they just wanted to get back to the hotel before someone blows it up." She replied._

_"My first guess to that would have to be Patrick then," Ronan replied with a short sigh. "Seeing as he once almost blew up the kitchen trying to make me breakfast." He made a face. "I really didn't think that it was possible, but he's probably the one who can do it." He flicked his head to the side. "C'mon." he led her out of the coffee shop and the two started to walk back to the hotel. "I didn't think that anyone would be waiting for me."_

_"Is something wrong?" Mrs. Knight questioned as she peered at him._

_"Nah, my stomach just started feeling funny." Ronan replied, looking straight ahead. "No big deal, I'll just have Logan or Riley look at me later." He laughed a humorless laugh. "I mean, since they want t be doctors and everything, they might as well get the practice."_

_"But you've been acting funny the past couple of days," Mrs. Knight pointed out. "Like there's something on your mind?" she phrased it like a question, trying to get him to talk._

_"Of course there's been something on my mind," Ronan looked at her incredulously as he stopped walking. He turned to face her completely and looked down at her. "The fact that I'm now taking care of six kids, one of which who is getting married, the other five are on a world tour and have to worry about practically everything, and you know, trying to keep myself sane." He let out a snort, his breath turning into a foggy cloud. "I'd say that's a lot on my mind, so I would be acting funny."_

_"Are you doing acting like a little kid?" Mrs. Knight questioned as she crossed her arms over her chest._

_"That depends, are you going to punish me for acting like a kid?" Ronan snapped back in reply._

_"One thing that I really don't like is when someone patronizes me," Mrs. Knight stated as patiently as she could. "So don't even try it here."_

_"You know you're starting to sound like my daughter." Ronan remarked off-handedly. "Not that that makes things any better, but it just makes me even more annoyed."_

_"Well, could at least explain to me why I'm bothering you?" Mrs. Knight looked genuinely confused. "I mean, because out of everyone here you're the one that I'm closest to, and we have a lot in common because the oldest out of our children are both criminal masterminds." She tried to make a joke of it but Ronan continued to stare at her. "At least make it easier for me."_

_"Do you still love him?" Ronan questioned._

_"Who? Kevin?" Mrs. Knight wanted to laugh but decided not to, knowing that it wasn't going to do anything to help how he was feeling. "No, I can't love someone that hurt my children so badly."_

_"He hurt you too," Ronan pointed out._

_"Yeah," Mrs. Knight pulled her hair out f her face. "But I care about my kids being hurt more than myself." She shrugged. "I don't know, I guess I hadn't really thought about it for a long time."_

_"Just so you know, holding something like that inside and not talking about it will just 'cause you to express it later," Ronan smirked. "I know that the hard way."_

_"Yeah, I remember." Mrs. Knight nodded, immediately knowing what he was talking about. She licked her lips. "We should be getting back to the hotel."_

_"Wait." Ronan gently grabbed onto her arm. "Just so you know, I know that you're going to make the right decision for your kids."_

_"Thank You."_

_Ronan finally gave an actual smile and stepped closer to her, cupping her face in his hands and kissed her._

"You like to embarrass people don't you?" Mrs. Knight questioned as she crossed her arms over her chest, her cheeks turning as red as her hair. Ronan smiled and nodded like a little kid.

"Next to taking care of them," Ronan pointed over his shoulder, where Patrick, Noah, and Sydney were now in a handstand competition as Riley and Rhuben were counting to see how long they could stay up. "I like to make fun of people." He smiled impishly and then his face fell. "No seriously, "he rubbed his nose. "I didn't want to rush you into anything; you know what with your husband getting into contact with you and everything." He flicked his fringe out of his face and smoothed down his eyebrows. "It's not question when I say that I'm attracted to you." He finally looked up at her again.

"I'm attracted to you, too." Mrs. Knight admitted. "And you're not rushing me into anything. I'm completely over my husband, the only thought that I would have about him is how Kendall and Katie are going to react."

"Yeah, well," Ronan reached out and gently grabbed one of Mrs. Knight's hands, to her surprise. He gently kissed the back of it and then lowered their arms, not letting go of her hand and looking right into her eyes. "I would love to take you out on a date sometime."

"I would love that as well." Mrs. Knight smiled back. "Just one thing," Her smile turned into a look of apprehension. Ronan raised his eyebrows to show that he was listening. "I think it would be a good idea if we kept our relationship, I mean, this dating thing, a secret for now."

"Right, the paparazzi." Ronan nodded in agreement.

"There's that," Mrs. Knight agreed. "But we also don't know how everyone else going to react to it and I would rather have it that we kind of slowly push in the idea that we're dating before we just go and tell them."

"I getcha." Ronan gave a wink.

"Ronan?"

Ronan and Mrs. Knight quickly let go of hands and Ronan turned around to see Julius, Brittany, and Big Time Rush and their friends following behind them. Julius was the one that had called Ronan's name, and had his hand waving over his head, to get his father's attention.

"Yeah, what's up?" Ronan questioned, running a hand over his mouth.

"I need you to check out something that has us concerned," Julius stated as he motioned between himself and Brittany. "It's got the stage hands concerned as well."

"There are some wires back there that we need to have checked out." Brittany explained further. "Some of them look like they could be a potential problem."

"Alright," Ronan nodded and jumped over the seats and onto the standing area. "Come show me where it is and I'll get it marked off and looked at by a technician before the show starts tonight." He looked over at Mrs. Knight and smiled a little before following Julius and Brittany backstage.

"WHAT ARE YOU GUYS STANDING AROUND FOR?" Gustavo announced his presence, his voice echoing all through the arena.

"Is there any way that he can blow his vocal chords?" Logan whispered into Kendall's ear, causing the leader to smile. "Just once? So we don't have to hear him scream?"

"I wish." Kendall whispered back.

"You and I both." James agreed.

"You guys should be onstage doing your sound check," Kelly added as she looked at her Palm Pilot. "We're already running late as it is and I don't want to have to push back the start of the concert. I mean, you guys are already pushing it for the meet and greet before the concert starts." She added.

"Relax, Kelly," James held up his hands. "We were just taking a tour of the place so we don't get lost tonight."

"Well-"

"WELL NOTHING!" Gustavo interrupted. "GET UP ON THAT STAGE!" He gestured his arm to the stage so violently that it caught WayneWayne in the chest and it caused him to stagger back into his girlfriend's arms. Camille giggled and lifted him upright as Kendall, James, Carlos, and Logan hurried on stage to do their sound check.

"Shouldn't this be the other way around?" she questioned, pulling her locks out of her face as WayneWayne brushed off his clothes. "Shouldn't _you_ be catching _me_ if I fall?"

"You don't have to worry about that," WayneWayne smiled and kissed her forehead and her cheek. "I'm always going to be right behind you, so you don't worry about that." He put his arm around Camille's shoulders as Jo, Stephanie, and Katie 'Awwwd'.

"MOVE! MOVE! MOVE! CITY IS OURS, NOW!"

"I can tell you one thing," WayneWayne continued as he, Camille, Stephanie, Jo, Katie, and the Jacksons climbed up into the seating area and sat down, waiting. "I'm glad that I didn't get into the band or else I would have to be tortured like that."

"Yeah, you say that _now_," Camille teased.

"Yeah, especially when you were so dead-set of getting into the band in the first place." Katie added as she shook her head, her eyes trained onto the stage.

"_And_ willing to kick Griffin in the gonads," Jo added, laughing at the thought. "Which must have been an amazing feat as it is."

"Think of it this way," Riley leaned forward so she could speak directly to WayneWayne, who raised an eyebrow as he looked at her. "You're not working on the Ziggle Zaggles anymore. And if I were you, I would have lost my mind in the first two minutes of even being on that show."

"Yeah," WayneWayne muttered and rubbed his forehead as he turned his attention to the stage. "Yeah" he repeated, resting his chin in his hand.

"It's still bothering you, isn't it?" Camille leaned close to WayneWayne so he could hear her over the guys' singing. "That you haven't had as much success that they have?" she motioned to the stage where the guys were dancing around.

"Sort of," WayneWayne replied. "I was just so desperate to get into singing in the first place that I would have done anything for it. I guess I paid the price," he laughed bitterly. "If it wasn't for you proving to the others that I wasn't really that bad and that I just wanted to get into the industry I probably wouldn't have the friends I have now." He sat back in his seat." I really don't deserve it," he looked over at her. "Or you."

"Of course you do!" Camille looked shocked and offended at the same time. She reached out and shook his knee. "Hey, everything happens for a reason, Wally. You were meant to become WayneWayne so we could meet again, so you could become friends with my friends."

"And so we could date?" WayneWayne added with a lift in his voice.

"Yeah, that too," Camille laughed. She frowned when WayneWayne didn't join in on her laughter. "The guys like you, ok? Things are going to get better for you; your acting and singing career is going to blow up. Just wait."

"I don't think I can wait much longer to be honest," WayneWayne replied in a sad tone. "My mom and dad and my sisters and my brother-in-law, they're always asking how I'm doing and how my career is going and I'm always embarrassed to say that not much is going on."

"Hey," Camille moved forward and rested her forehead against his lower jaw. "Things are going to turn around alright? You _are_ going to get big in the industry and everyone is going to love you as much as I do." She leaned back and looked at him seriously. "But you're mine and no other girl can have you."

"I know," WayneWayne smiled genuinely at her and put his arm around her shoulders. "Thank You."

"You're welcome." Camille replied and kissed his cheek.

Big Time Rush danced and sang across stage, but not with as much enthusiasm as they would be putting in that night. They were just making sure that they knew their marks and how the cameras were going to be moving around stage as they did the concert. This concert was going to be put onto a small DVD for the DarkElements, to see how it would work out if they wanted to have a DVD made of the tour. Of course they were going to have Big Time Rush and their friends in it; it wouldn't be a deal without them. The guys were so excited about it that they were purposely messing up their sound check to make sure that the cameraman could see them.

"And this is how guys act whenever a camera is put around them," Stephanie stated as she turned her video camera to herself. She shook her head in a 'isn't that awful' sort of way and then turned it towards the Jacksons and Katie. "Hey guys, tell the audience what's going on right now."

"Well," Katie spoke up. "Right now I'm watching my brother and his friends do a sound check." She explained, looking right into the camera. "And right now I have to say that it's not going that well." She shook her head. "No, it's not." She laughed as Sydney giggled into his hands.

"But sound checks never go that great," Patrick spoke up, coming to the guys' rescue. "I mean, they're never that great when we do them." Patrick smiled as Stephanie moved the camera towards Riley and Rhuben who harmonized 'speak for yourself'. "Just telling the truth."

"Since when were you one to go and tell the truth?" Noah questioned as he looked at his brother with a raised eyebrow, twirling drumsticks around his fingers.

"I tell the truth all the time," Patrick replied as he placed a hand on his chest, trying to look humble. "For instance," he eyed Noah's shirt. "That's a very hideous shirt."

"You have a hideous face." Noah shot back quickly.

"You _do_ realize that you just insulted yourself, right?" Katie muttered to Noah. He paused for a second, looking like it hadn't occurred to him at all.

"Shut up" he replied, sliding low in his chair. He waited until Patrick had turned his attention to Rhuben, who was telling him something and reached up and slapped him on the back of the head, quickly returning his hand to his lap as Patrick whipped his head around to see who it was. He laughed quietly as Patrick rubbed the back of his head, looking confused.

They continued to watch as Big Time Rush went through the rest of the songs that they were going to perform that night, and then it was the DarkElements' turn to go up and work on their stuff. Things went smoothly at first, they went through a few of their songs as Riley and Patrick switched off guitars from time to time, with the help of Jo, who was working as their stage-hand. She checked to make sure that the microphones were ok, that their headmics were on line, and that the guitars were perfectly tuned as well as making sure that all of their instruments and accessories were offstage where they needed them to be.

"Ok, um, Pat, how about we work on some of our harmonies while playing?" Noah suggested as he pulled a silver guitar around his neck, thanking Jo with a smile as she handed to him and hurried offstage. "I haven't played in a while and it would give Riley a chance to work on the bass."

"Are you saying I suck?" she questioned as she turned to him with a hard stare.

"Only in the nicest way possible." He replied with a cheeky smile, causing Rhuben and Sydney to crack up laughing.

"Only you can insult someone with class," Riley stated as she ruffled his hair with a fond smile. "Why not, you're right, I haven't played the bass in a while." She stretched her fingers.

"What song?" Sydney questioned from behind his piano/synthesizer.

"Um," Patrick rubbed his chin. "How about the Sum41 song, Still Waiting?" he looked around at his siblings with raised eyebrows and waited until they nodded in reply. "Cool, Rhubes count us off please."

"Mhm" Rhuben nodded and twirled her drumsticks through her fingers before she counted off with a few sharp clacks of her drumsticks, launching the song into the start.

Patrick, playing the rhythm guitar for the song started to play as Noah stepped up to the microphone. "So am I still waiting, for this world to stop hating? Can't find a good reason, can't find hope to believe in."

Noah, Riley, Rhuben, and Sydney launched into playing the melody to the song as Patrick played the lead, moving to the microphone to sing. "Drop dead a bullet to my head. Your words are like a gun in hand." Patrick half sang, half screamed into the microphone as he stood on the balls of his feet, keeping himself balanced as he leaned his upper half towards the microphone and his lower half back to have space to play the guitar. "You can't change the state of the nation, we just need some motivation. These eyes have seen no conviction. Just lies and more contradiction, so tell me what would you say? I'd say it's time to wait."

Noah moved to the microphone, in the same stance as Patrick as he started to sing along with his twin, their voices matching perfectly. "So am I still waiting? For this world to stop hating? Can't find a good reason, can't find hope to believe in."

They played through the small instrumental portion and as Noah went up to sing again, sparks suddenly blew up in his face. "Yikes!" he cried, backing away quickly. Patrick and Riley also let out sounds of shock as they jumped backwards, trying not to get hit in the crossfire.

"What? What happened?" Ronan asked as he, Julius, and Brittany hurried onstage, hearing their sharp cries. He looked around wildly. "What's going on?"

"Nice to know that you would come really fast if any of us were ever in trouble." Rhuben remarked as she stood up, setting down her drumsticks. "Sparks just went flying out of Noah's microphone." She explained.

"Hm," Ronan frowned as he went over to the microphone and flicked it with his thumb and index finger. Some more sparks went flying out and he jumped backwards just in time. He stuck his thumb in his mouth, having been a little bit shocked.

"Yeah, I wouldn't do that, it could hurt." Riley commented sardonically as she pulled the bass guitar off of her neck. Ronan shot her a dirty glare and she just shrugged in reply. "Can you get it fixed?"

"I can," Ronan replied with a nod. "But there's some other stuff that needs to get fixed as well, so you guys have the rest of the time off before you have to be back here for the meet and greets." He waved his arms. "Go have fun."

"Yay!" Sydney cheered as he ran towards the end of the stage and jumped off. He ran over to Katie and grabbed her hand, spinning in a circle. "Let's play a game!"

"Sorry," Noah called as he and Patrick jumped off the lip of the stage as well. "I already asked her to come get some ice cream with me." He reached out and mussed his hair. "But she can play with you later, go bug Patrick."

"Alright." Sydney replied and ran over to Patrick and jumped onto his back, wrapping his arms around his brother's neck. Katie waited until they were far enough away before turning back to Noah and speaking.

"When did you ask me for ice cream?" Katie asked with a sly smile as she crossed her arms over her chest. Noah blushed, the contrast of it with his dark hair and light colored skin made his blue eyes stand out even more.

"Uh, I didn't yet," he replied, wiping his hands off on his jeans. "But I was _hoping_ you would." he looked down at his feet. "You don't have to if you don't to," he added quickly. "If you're busy, I understa-"

Katie placed a hand over Noah's mouth to get him to stop talking. Sure she liked the fact that he was shy and even thought it was cute sometimes (not that she would ever admit that out loud) but sometimes there was only so much of it that she could take. Noah looked at her quietly as Katie grinned. "Let me just tell my mom where I'm going and then we can go."

Noah nodded and smiled gently as Katie pulled her hand away and turned on her heel to go talk to her mother. Patrick walked over to Noah and tilted his head, looking at his brother quietly, smiling a little and motioning for Sydney to be quiet.

"So what is this I hear about you going for ice cream?" Patrick asked, causing Noah to jump. "And why wasn't I invited?" Noah caught his breath and started to explain but Patrick cut him off. "Belt up, No, I was just joking." Something unrecognizable flashed through Patrick's eyes as he jumped a little to keep Sydney on his back. "Bring me back some, yeah?"

"No worries." Noah replied with a lift of his eyebrow.

Patrick would tell him if something was bothering him, wouldn't he?

* * *

"So something is definitely bothering Hockey-Head, but he won't tell me what it is." Riley stated as she sat down behind Rhuben on the couch, placing her legs on either side of her sister as she grabbed a lock of her hair and started to braid it.

"And there's something going on with Carlos," Rhuben agreed, nodding slowly so she didn't mess Riley up (the result of it being that her hair would be pulled hard.) "He isn't as happy as he usually is. Everyone has noticed it." She cracked her knuckles. "Stephanie is trying to cheer him up, but nothing seems to be working. Then James-"

"James has been going to the gym a whole lot lately." Riley commented.

"That's what Jo said," Rhuben agreed. She tilted her head back to look at her sister. "How did you know that?"

"Don't tell Hockey-Head, but I noticed that his arm muscles have gotten bigger." Riley replied, causing the two of them to laugh as Riley finished braiding her twin's hair and then the two switched their seating positions so Rhuben could braid Riley's.

The two of them were using their free time for some rest and relaxation (the small amount that they were going to get) before the concert by hanging out in their hotel room. The two girls looked up as Patrick sighed loudly from his position of lying on the floor on his back, arms behind his head and starting at the ceiling.

"Bored?" Rhuben questioned.

"No," Patrick replied and turned his head to look at her. "I'm just waiting for Katie and Noah to get back." He replied and looked at his watch. "They've been gone for a while."

"They've been gone for only a half hour," Riley repeated and reached her leg out, lightly poking him in the cheek with her big toe. "What's on your mind, bro?" she frowned when Patrick didn't reply. "You know you can't just lie there all day."

"Stop earbashing me," Patrick moved an arm over his eyes. "If I wanted a lecture I would talk to Julius or Ronan." Riley blinked once and it was her turn to lilt her head back and look at her brother with concern. Rhuben narrowed her eyes as she looked back at her twin. Patrick groaned when he realized what he was doing and turned onto his stomach. "Please don't do that silent conversation thing with me."

"Sorry," Riley and Rhuben replied in unison, Patrick wasn't sure if they meant it. "Can't help it." Patrick smiled and shook his head as he rested his head on his arms again. He looked up there was the sound of the doorknob turning and got to his feet when Noah and Katie strolled through the door. "Dude, finally!" Patrick cried, getting to his feet and hurrying over to his brother.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you wait so long," Noah replied with just as much enthusiasm, giving his brother a quick hug. "Here's your ice cream." He handed him a small tub. "And guess what?" he lightly hit Katie on the arm. "Kates, tell him."

Katie looked at him oddly and then turned to Patrick. "We found this balcony over the outdoor pool," she explained quickly. "And we nabbed these tubs of yogurt," she pulled a few cartons out from behind her back. "So what we're thinking of doing is-"

"Taking spoonfuls of yogurt and dropping them onto people to see if they really believe that its pigeon poop?" Patrick questioned at the same time Noah explained it. The two grinned at each other and high-fived each other. "C'mon, Kates, let's go!" he grabbed onto Katie's arm and dragged her out of the suite.

"See you later guys!" Noah waved over his shoulder before running out after them.

Riley and Rhuben laughed, used to Patrick and Noah acting all hyper when they were around each other after having been apart for a while. They continued to talk about their friends and what could possibly be bothering them when there was a small knock on the door and it pushed open. Logan poked his head in and looked around.

"Oh, hey!" He smiled and waved as he closed the door behind him. "The other guys are at the arcade trying to see if they can make it so they can get a lot of tickets from this one game to win an inflatable baseball bat." He chuckled at the thought. "And I was wondering what you guys were doing." He paused. "What _are _you doing_?"_

"Uh," Rhuben hesitated for a second and looked over at Riley, who nodded, as Logan sat down in between the two girls, resting his back against the couch. "We're talking about what's been going on with the guys." She explained.

"We know for sure that something is bothering them, but we don't know what exactly." Riley replied and waited for Logan's reply. She was expecting him to look intrigued and rub his chin and nod in agreement, not-

"Why didn't you guys tell me?" Logan asked in a whining tone.

"Uh, newsflash there Logie-Bear," Riley smiled a little at her rhyme before turning serious. "We figured that you have been helping us so much lately that we could all help you. I mean, I could see how stressed this tour has been making you lately and we, we being the five of us, thought that we could help figure out what's going on with you guys and fixing it."

"Pat and No and Syd know too?" Logan's eyes widened as his pitch turned to a screech.

"Wait," Rhuben lifted her head from her boyfriend's shoulder and looked at him with an amused expression, laughing a little. "Are you really that upset that we didn't ask for your help as soon as we figured out that there was something really bothering them?" She waved a hand in the air. "Like when we definitely knew that something was wrong?"

"Yes!" Logan threw his hands up into the air, causing Riley and Rhuben to duck out of the way, making sure that they didn't get hit in the head. "I know the guys, I'd _think_ that I'd be able to help you guys help them."

"Sorry." Riley muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Sorry," Rhuben repeated and rolled her eyes as well. "Ok, what if I said that next time I _promise_ to include you on whatever I need help with." She sighed as Logan continued to pout. "You're not going to stop pouting until we sweeten the deal somehow, aren't you?"

"Nope," Logan replied, shaking his head. Riley laughed and ran her fingers through her hair. She raised her eyebrows as Rhuben thought for a second, leaned forward and whispered something into Logan's ear. His eyes widened and he turned and smiled widely at her. "That's good enough." He stated, causing Rhuben to laugh and kiss his cheek.

"God, can you guys be any more annoying?" Riley questioned, shaking her head.

"We could try." Logan and Rhuben harmonized, without trying to.

"Please don't." Riley stated and looked up as Sydney burst into the room and hurried over to them. She didn't look too concerned, grabbing onto his shoulders, to get him to calm down a little. "What's up, Little Man?" she questioned. "Why the rushing?"

"Something's wrong with Pat." Sydney replied solemnly. His chin trembled as he tugged at the bottom of his shirt. "I don't know what it is exactly, but Noah told me to come get you."

"He probably just fell and hit his head or something." Riley stated, allowing Sydney to pull her to her feet and drag her out of the room.

"That'd be right." Rhuben stated with a snort before turning to Logan. "I can't tell you how many times that he'd come running to one of us crying because he fell and hit his head or split it open."

"I could guess," Logan laughed and turned his body so his legs were around Rhuben and she was pulled back against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her stomach and she rested her arms on top of his as he gently laid his chin on the top of her head. A perfect fit. "He's just like Carlos like that, yet he's like James when it comes to how he cares about his looks."

"You know he wasn't that bad before we met you guys," Rhuben pointed out, playing with his fingers. "We may have been around you for too long."

Logan could practically see the teasing smile slide onto her face and her eyes light up and sparkle the way that showed that she was really smiling. He tightened his grip on her and thought about when he had realized that he was falling for her.

_"And it __was __nice to meet you, until you pushed me off the swing!" Logan stated as he glared pointedly at Rhuben, who merely shrugged in reply. "Why were you thinking about that?" he added gently._

_"Because it was probably only one of the few moments in my life where I didn't have to worry about my dad," Rhuben replied and made a face. "At least from what I can remember. I don't know, I kind of blocked out everything from being nine on back." She sat up and grabbed the DVD box and motioned it towards the TV. "Do you want to watch a movie?"_

_"It better not be a chick-flick, Bell-Bell." Logan warned._

_"It's not, Logie-Bear." Rhuben replied as she raised an eyebrow. "Since when have you known me to watch a chick-flick? They bore me to death." She added as she made a fake gagging sound, along with pretending to stick her finger down her throat._

_"Logie-Bear, Bell-Bell," Logan mused to himself. "What nickname was it that I gave Riley?" he asked as she got off the couch to put in the DVD._

_"Landy, I think." Rhuben replied as she looked at the ceiling in through. "Obviously short for Rilandon." She turned around, holding onto the remote and stopped when she noticed Logan looking at her oddly. "What?" she asked as she went back to the couch._

_"Hm?" Logan blinked and looked over at her, as if he didn't realize that she was sitting there. "What?"_

_"You were looking at me funny." Rhuben replied, tilting her head to the side. "Are you ok?"_

_"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, I was just thinking." Logan replied._

_"About what?"_

_"Nothing," Logan shoved his hand into his pocket when he felt his cell phone start to vibrate and pulled it out to see that James was calling him. No doubt it was because he was trying to settle some sort of argument that he and Carlos were having, usually about whether or not something was real or not. "I'll be right back." He announced before going into the guys' bedroom. "What?" he asked as he answered the phone. "What do you need me to prove is real now."_

_"Absolutely nothing," James replied and Logan could hear something suspicious in his voice. He could practically see the big grin on his face. "So, how are you and Rhuben getting along?"_

_"Ok, what are you getting at?" Logan asked, not really in the mood for his games._

_"Dude, you two are in a hotel suite, __alone."__ James replied, putting the emphasis on the word. Logan rolled his eyes, already knowing what his friend was getting at. "Oh come on, you can't tell me that you haven't done-"_

_"Bye, James." Logan interrupted and closed his cell phone, sliding it back into his pocket._

_He left the bedroom and stopped as he looked at Rhuben from her profile. He studied her as she watched the movie, so engrossed in it that her bottom jaw had fallen open partly. It was hard to believe that she had gotten abused only six months before, as he didn't really see instances of her reverting back to the past in a while. There weren't any more bruises and the only scar that he could see was the first one that he had noticed when he met her. One in her eyebrow, he still wasn't sure where she had gotten it from. Logan couldn't help but smile when he saw Rhuben's lips curl into a smile at a funny part of the movie._

_He suddenly blinked, running his hand over his face._

_He let out a small curse, which is very unlike him, when he had realized what was going on._

_He had fallen for his best friend._

"Ouch," Rhuben winced slightly. "You're squeezing me kinda tight there." Logan quickly loosened the grip on his arms and watched as Rhuben reached a hand up and pulled her hair from her neck to around her left side. Logan looked down at the cigarette burn that was strategically placed on her neck and lightly touched it. He briefly smiled when he realized that Rhuben didn't flinch away from him and thought about how far the Jacksons had come since their dad had gone away.

They barely got anymore nightmares, they smiled a lot more (for Riley and Rhuben that was a huge deal), they didn't keep as many things a secret, and they acted crazier and laughed a lot more than they usually did. It was hard to believe that they were the same people that they had met almost a year ago, that were so closed off and distant that Logan thought that none of them would be friends. He hated to think about what happened to Rhuben and her brothers and sister, but the thought came back almost every time he looked at one of them and it angered him. He should have been able to see what was going on as soon as he had met them, yet he didn't, and he felt partially responsible that he didn't get them help sooner. He kissed the back of her head and the two sat there in silence, just listening to each other breathe.

Rhuben never thought herself to be the kind of person that would have a boyfriend that she would feel this strongly about. With her past boyfriends, who were all jerks, and because of her dad, she didn't have much interest in dating. Anyone that would ask her out she would swiftly turn down, thinking of her brothers first and that if she went out on a date she would get distracted and not be able to protect them as well. Deep down, she was also afraid to even try and start dating again, just because she had known nothing but pain all her life. She didn't trust any guy except for her brothers and those that she had known for a long time, and she didn't believe in dating just for the sake of dating. She believed in dating because the two people had a connection. Rhuben was surprised herself when she realized that she started to have feelings for Logan, the guy that she had seen when he was a goofy haired-dirty kneed-Pokémon obsessed-eight year old, the guy that helped her to forget of all of the pain that she felt when she went home, the guy that could put a smile on her face without even trying, but she did. She felt that he was the best thing that could ever happen to her, he would make sure that he was happy and try and talk to her whenever she was sad, he was her other half and it took a while for her realize it.

"Hey," Logan breathed into Rhuben's ear, gently kissing her cheek.

"What?" Rhuben questioned just as gently, slouching down a little bit. She brought her knees up so they were resting beside Logan's.

"I love you."

"I know."

Logan's heart sank a little bit when he didn't hear her say those three words in reply. He didn't know why it bothered him so much. He knew that she loved her, anyone could see it if they looked at the two. Riley had been saying it for years that the two of them had loved each other before they knew what love was. His chest tightened, his eyes felt pinched, and he suddenly felt very tired. He took a breath and rubbed his nose.

He promised when he first started dating her that he wasn't going to rush her, not matter how much it hurt him, he wasn't going to rush her. In some ways he felt as he deserved it, after having hurt her because he was too nice to tell his ex-girlfriend Britt that he had moved on, he could see how karma was biting him in the ass.

But he also felt that he had been patient enough.

'_This is all so confusing,_' Logan thought as he took in another deep breath and shifted a little so his back wasn't pressing into the corner of the couch. '_I thought that when you went from friends to boyfriend and girlfriend things got easier. But they only seem to keep getting harder and harder._'

"Is something wrong?" Rhuben lifted her head and looked up at her, her black lashes fluttering as she trained her dark blue eyes on him. "You became kind of tense there."

"I was just thinking," Logan paused for dramatic effect and Rhuben waved her hand in an impatient 'get on with it' motion. "About the date that I'm going to take you on tonight." He replied with a proud smile.

"Since when are we going on a date?" Rhuben questioned with a half smile. "And why haven't I been asked first?" She crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. "You know I hate surprises."

"Since now," Logan got up and pulled Rhuben to her feet. "After the concert, I'm taking you out on a date." He pulled her against him. "We haven't been on one in a while because we've been so busy. Let's be spontaneous." He paused. "And I know you hate surprises."

"You?" Rhuben snorted. "Spontaneous? The last time you tried to be spontaneous you had to make an appointment for it." She laughed a little and then became serious again. "And if you know I hate surprises why are you making this a surprise?"

"Because I felt like it," Logan replied simply. "And there's no problem with being organized." Logan stated, removing his arms from her waist and crossing them over his chest. "It becomes a habit that will help you later in life when the stress of work and family causes you eventually become completely disorganized."

"Yes, but there's a problem with being so organized that you have to schedule in eating." Rhuben pointed out.

"Bleep, Blap, Bloop." Logan replied, with a wave of his hand. "Wait a minute; you're making fun of me!" He pointed an accusing finger towards Rhuben who tried to keep a straight face. The girl that normally could master a look of apathy had trouble trying not to smile. "Don't deny it, you are."

"No, I'm not." Rhuben replied with a completely straight face.

"Fine," Logan shrugged simply. "I'm just going to have to tickle it out of you!"

"Don't you dare," Rhuben stated, taking a step away and keeping her eye on him as she slowly leaned over the couch. "I have a pillow," she grabbed it in her hand. "And I'm not afraid to use it." Logan raised an eyebrow and grabbed his own pillow. "Clearly I didn't think this through."

"Clearly," Logan agreed. "Now do you want to fight or do you surrender?" he questioned, using his best British accent.

"A British accent?" Rhuben raised an eyebrow and lowered her pillow. "Really? That's kind of insulting to me you know."

"Sorry," Logan tossed his pillow aside and walked over to Rhuben again, pressing his forehead against hers. "Let me make t up to you." He leaned down; going to kiss her, but Riley bursting into the room caused them to pull away. "You couldn't wait for two seconds?" he asked irritably.

"Not unless you want Patrick to hyperventilate himself into a coma." She replied sharply.

"What?" Rhuben asked, immediately on alert. "What does that mean?"

"It means that we have to get Patrick to a hospital." Riley replied, grabbing her phone and her wallet from the table that was sitting in the middle of the room. "He's having an asthma attack."

"How bad?" Logan questioned, hurrying to get his shoes on. His phone was in his other hand, already texting the others what was going on.

"I don't know." Riley replied grimly…

* * *

**A/N: Alright so I got Racy (Ronan and Kacy (Mrs. Knight)), Lella, Wamille, and Natie in this chapter. Next chapter will have Kiley, Jameo, Carphanie, and Julittany. More problems arise in the concert in the next chapter and it will only grow from there. Whew, longer chapter. In other news, we gave permission to bballgirl22 to use our characters in a new fic that she's writing and Rhu and I are really excited about it. We like to see how people write our characters and will be willing to give permission to anyone that wants to use them if they ask. Next chapter will be up soon, I'm sorry it wasn't up yesterday like I wanted, but because of that, I'm going to give you guys somewhat of a present, by updating this story again before I update any other one. So you'll get two chapters to this before any other BTR story. (As I'm going to update my Suite Life on Deck fic as well.)**

**To Anonymous: I already have a plan for the Lella pairing and it's kind of like the idea that you have for the whole Dak thing. But Dak only appears once in this series and that was in the second story. There's really no point of him being put into this story (at least not that I can think of.) But thank you for the input; I'll keep that in mind when I'm writing my next story. :)**

**Could you guys read my fic 'You Know You've Done Wrong'? It's about WayneWayne and I would really like some feedback on it.**

**Oh and I need two of you guys to be a part in the story, just review with your name (or an OC's it doesn't matter), physical appearance, and personality and you'll be in it. We need two people for this and they'll be chosen randomly out of those that review and want to be put into it. They're going to be shown in the next chapter at the concert.**

**Thanks!**

**-Riley**

**PS - ****While you're waiting on it, check out our website for the DarkElements: http:/ thedarkelements . webs . com/ and our twitter for our profile so you can get updates and ask questions: http:/ twitter . com / DarkElements10 (except without the spaces, or just follow the links on our profile.) We've recently updated it.**


	11. Big Time Problems Part 2

**Chapter Eleven – Big Time Problems**

**Part 2**

**A/N: This is a longer chapter due to the many lyrics that are in this chapter.**

**

* * *

**Patrick lay on his side, tears falling from his eyes rapidly as he gasped for air. His lungs felt like they were being squeezed tight and every time he tried to answer Katie's worried questions or calls he would start coughing, causing his breathing to get even harder.

"What's wrong with him?" Katie asked Noah as he nervously hovered around his brother, his nails in his mouth. "Noah, what is it?"

"He's having an asthma attack," Noah replied as he ran his hands through his hair and pulled at the strands. "He's having an asthma attack and I don't know what to do." He turned to Katie, looking extremely panicked. "He's always the one that looks out for me and now that I have to look out for him I don't know what to do!"

"They're over here!" They heard Riley say and she, Rhuben, and Sydney suddenly appeared at their side. Sydney moved over to Noah's side and held onto his waist as Riley, Rhuben, and Logan dropped down to Patrick's side, looking him over.

Patrick's eyes slid over to his sister's and they could easily see fear residing in his eyes. None of them had ever had an asthma attack that badly before and although was the one that got panic attacks every now and then, Patrick was the one that was the most afraid to really do anything about it, besides waiting by his side. He never wanted to really do anything just in case he messed up and hurt Noah even further. Now that he was the one that was having problems breathing, he was terrified that something was wrong.

"What happened?" Riley demanded sharply, lifting her head to look at Katie and Noah.

"She's not mad," Rhuben explained breathlessly when she saw Katie flinch. "We just need to know what happened here."

"We were just messing around, tossing spoonfuls of yogurt off of the balcony," Katie explained quickly. "You know, to play a prank to make it look like a pigeon pooped on someone." She swallowed thickly. "We were coming back inside and all of a sudden he collapsed on the ground."

"His fingernails are turning blue," Logan reported, looking at Patrick's hands. He leaned over his face. "As well as his lips, we have to get him to the hospital."

"Should I call an ambulance?" Katie asked her phone already out of her pocket.

"No, driving him there will be faster," Rhuben replied, looking around frantically. "We'll find the bus driver as fast as we can and get him to drive us there."

"What about everyone else?" Sydney asked quietly.

"I called Ronan on the way down and Logan called the other guys, who I'm sure will relay the message to everyone else." Riley replied impatiently. She moved forward to pick up Patrick. "Right now we have to focus on him."

"No, I'll take him," Noah moved forward, after gently prying Sydney off of his waist and moved his arms under Patrick's body, easily lifting him up into his arms as he stood up. "It'll be faster if you guys go and find the bus driver, you can run faster." He nodded to Riley and Rhuben, his lower lip was trembling and his eyes were wide, but he still managed to sound calm, unlike how he was hysterical a few minutes before.

"C'mon." Logan nudged Riley's and Rhuben's shoulders and they turned and ran away as fast as they could. "You guys meet us down in the lobby." Logan called back over his shoulder.

"Got it!" Sydney called, brushing his tears away. He saw that Noah had stopped crying and was trying to be brave for his obviously scared brother, now he could do the same thing and be brave too. "There's an elevator over there." He hurried over and started to rapidly press the elevator call button with his thumb.

"Why don't you just use his inhaler?" Katie suggested, looking over at her friend, who was now trembling.

"Because you can't use an inhaler when someone's having an asthma attack!" Noah snapped back, his eyes flashing. "It doesn't help after the attack has already started." Katie fell silent and Noah immediately shut his mouth and looked away from her. She wasn't upset at him at all, she knew that he was just worried about his brother and wanted him to get better soon.

"Finally!" Sydney cried as the doors opened, he dragged Noah and Katie into the small elevator and pushed the lobby button. He then tilted his head to the side and started to hop up and down, willing the elevator to move faster.

"Syd, if you keep jumping the elevator is going to keep stopping." Noah said to him as calmly as possible.

"Yeah, well," Sydney sputtered as he tried to think of an answer, but his mind was whirling, fear and anxiousness evident throughout his face. "You never know, I could make the cable snap and then we'd get down there faster." Noah smiled a little and reached out and mussed Sydney's hair, easily comforting him at the touch.

After a few more tense seconds, the door slid open and the three (technically four) of them hurried out and met up with Riley, Rhuben, and Logan, who looked like they were getting ready to jump out of their skin. They had the bus driver with them and as soon as Katie, Noah, and Sydney had stepped out of the elevator they were on their way out the door and onto the bus, heading to the hospital.

* * *

"So did you end up getting the baseball bat?" Stephanie asked as she opened the door to the suite that she, Mrs. Knight, Katie, Jo, and Camille shared to greet her boyfriend. She kissed Carlos on the cheek and stepped back to let him in.

"No," Carlos pouted a little but then he perked up. "But we _did _get a bunch of these little sticky things that stick to windows and stuff when you throw them at them." He pulled one out of his pocket and threw it across the room, watching as it smacked into the wall and slowly slid down.

"Awesome." Stephanie agreed.

"So where are the girls?" Carlos asked as he pulled another one out of his pocket and pulled out another one, stretching it to its limit, watching to see how the thing that was once in the shape of a bug had been completely stretched out.

"Katie is hanging out with Patrick and Noah," Stephanie replied, looking at the ceiling in thought as she walked towards the center of the suite to grab the remote. "Mrs. Knight, Gustavo, Kelly, and Ronan are still at the arena. Jo and Camille are probably off seeing the sights." She shrugged. "I just wanted to stay in and watch TV."

"Watching TV is boring," Carlos commented, twisting his mouth to the side as he looked around, placing his hands on his hips. "It's the same thing every time." His eyes lit up again, but this time with an odd mischievous expression. "Let's play a game."

"What kind of a game?" Stephanie asked, looking at him warily.

"Hmm, I don't know," Carlos pretended to think as he walked over towards her, all the while grinning. "How about," He had tagged her arm, shouted 'You're it', and ran away from Stephanie as fast as she could.

She rolled her eyes, although she was smiling, made a huffing sound, and then turned and ran after him. So she ran after him, sliding around corners in her bare feet. It seemed logical at the time. They played tag for about an hour after that, long after both of them were well tired out and finally they both called a truce and collapsed, laughing, on the bed in hers and Jo's room.

Carlos crawled over her, until his face was holding over hers and smiled peacefully down at her. Stephanie was still laughing, a little breathless, her hair spread out on the bed like a halo. "You look so beautiful," He said, using one hand to cup her cheek and the other to support his weight so he didn't crush her, his hands warmed from the blood rush to her cheeks. "Have I ever told you that?" He stroked her thick brown hair.

"I know," Stephanie smiled back, looking the happiest she has ever been. "You always tell me that, even if I don't think I am."

"But you always are," Carlos replied and he kissed her cheek, continuing down lower, down to the soft flesh of her neck, her collarbone. Stephanie let out a small moan, giving Carlos the invitation to chuckle at his girlfriend. Her blush grew but Carlos didn't stop. He drew their lips together, igniting the flames they had. Stephanie's stomach clenched with the nerves, her palms sweating yet she let him kiss her gently.

"Can I just…go to the bathroom real fast?" Stephanie whispered, biting her lower lip.

Carlos kissed her, murmuring a yes into her ear and sat back on his heels, letting her up. Once in the bathroom, she took in a deep, jagged breath, shaking from nerves. She wiped her palms on her jeans, but they flooded with sweat again. Her whole body shook when she sat on the toilet seat, head in hands.

She was so terrified of this moment.

Not only because she knew it would hurt but also because this was his first time too and she didn't want it to be awkward. They'd never tried it before; they didn't really ever talk about it. But Carlos wasn't judgmental. She knew him far too well. He was sweet, kind, loving and understanding. She was so lucky to have him and she didn't want to throw a moment like this away.

Feeling more confident and sure of herself, she went outside to the bedroom, gave Carlos an anxious smile then sat down next to him when he asked what was wrong.

The whole time she'd been in the bathroom, he'd been there, sitting on the edge of the bed, wondering what he'd done wrong. He hoped he'd done nothing wrong to anger Stephanie. He knew this was her first time. It was his too. In his opinion, it took a man to be able to keep his virginity for the one he loved.

"Nothing's wrong, Carlos." Stephanie replied, shielding her eyes from his soft gaze.

He stroked her hair, running his fingers down her cheeks, over her lips, down to her chest. "It's ok, Steph. It's ok."He whispered, lowering her down onto the covers, taking off her shirt and jeans gently.

Stephanie moaned softly when he kissed her everywhere, in places she'd never been, in places she had been, in places where she would moan loudly, grab Carlos and kiss him passionately. He grinned wickedly, slipping off the rest of her clothes until she had nothing left.

He, however, was still fully dressed.

Stephanie's eyes took on an evil glint and she began to get rid of his clothes as well. They drew their lips together, rough, passionate, filled with love and desire. He felt her completely, knew what she looked like, felt like, tasted like; knew how good it was to experience their skin touching, their hands tangling and locking into the other's hair.

It was so full of love; they both could have done it for a life time.

…

..

.

"I love you," Stephanie smiled as she kissed Carlos gently.

"I love you, too." He kissed her back and then pecked her lips again and kissed her forehead before drawing away and giving her a hug. He looked down at her outfit. "But now I can definitely say that I'll love that outfit even more."

"You're not funny." Stephanie giggled a little as she pulled on her shoes, before looking at her watch. "I wonder where everyone is, I figured we would have all gone to dinner or something by now." She walked out of her room and to her phone that was sitting on the table in the middle of the room. "Maybe they left a message."

"Yeah, maybe," Carlos replied, throwing another sticky toy at the wall and laughing as it slowly slid down again.

Stephanie giggled and rolled her eyes again as she picked up her phone and pressed a button. "Hm, my battery's dead." She muttered to herself. "Carlos, can I see your phone?" she asked, holding out her hand.

"Yeah, babe, but I had turned it off so the guys and I wouldn't be distracted while we were playing Spider Stomp," Carlos replied and pulled his phone out of his pocket, turned it on, and handed it over to her.

Stephanie waited for it to boot up and then her eyebrows furrowed together when she saw the screen. "You missed three calls from Logan," she stated and then called his voicemail, putting the phone up to her ear, staring at Carlos as he turned to look at her, eyebrows lowered in concern. Stephanie's eyes widened and she hung up the phone. "We have to find our way to the hospital," she explained to him. "Something's wrong with Patrick."

* * *

"Is Patrick going to die?" Sydney asked quietly, kicking his feet back and forth as he sat on the edge of a chair, waiting to hear some news about his brother. As soon as they had made it to the hospital, doctors had taken Patrick and whisked him to a room, instructing the others to wait in the waiting area. And that was three hours ago.

Kendall, James, Jo, Camille, WayneWayne, Brittany, and Julius had arrived shortly after they had gotten called and Julius relayed the information that Ronan, Kelly, Gustavo, and Mrs. Knight were going to get there as soon as they could, but traffic had gotten bad due to a couple of car accidents. But they hadn't gotten a hold of Carlos and Stephanie, both of their phones had seemed to be off. Now they were all scattered along the hospital.

Brittany and Julius went to get some coffee while they waited, Kendall, Jo, James, Camille, and WayneWayne were sitting on the floor quietly, Riley was now pacing back and forth, Rhuben was sitting in a chair, her head tilted back and staring at the ceiling, Logan was trying to get information out of whatever doctor or nurse that walked by them, and Noah, Katie, and Sydney were sitting on chairs quietly.

"No he's not going to die," Noah replied, although he didn't sound convincing. "I'll kill him if he dies." He chuckled a little and then lowered his head so his fringe covered his face.

"Is it possible to die from an asthma attack?" Sydney continued asking innocently.

"Syd, wouldn't you know the answer to that question?" Riley asked as she finally stopped pacing. Logan stopped walking and looked at her with a raised eyebrow and she waved a hand at him, knowing that the question wouldn't bother him.

"I did," Sydney nodded once. "But the answer is blocked from my mind," he shook his head. "I can't remember."

"No, you can't die from an asthma attack," Rhuben replied after a second of silence. That was a lie, if you didn't get help in enough time, you could easily die from an asthma attack, but he didn't want to alarm her baby brother even more.

Noah knew that she was lying to try and keep Sydney from getting upset, but that didn't really help him. He just drew his knees up to his chest and rested his forehead against his knees, waiting. Katie placed a hand on his knee and rubbed it gently before resting her head on his shoulder.

"Excuse me," a voice said and everyone looked up to see the doctor that had been tending to Patrick. "I'm looking for the family of," he checked his clipboard. "Patrick Jackson-McGuire"

"We're," Riley motioned to herself, Rhuben, Noah, and Sydney. "His brothers and sisters."

"And we're his friends," Katie spoke up as everyone got to their feet, waiting anxiously.

"Is Pat ok?" Sydney demanded, tugging at the bottom of his t-shirt.

"I just need to talk to his legal guardian-"the doctor said.

"He's not here right now," Julius interrupted as he and Brittany hurried over to them. "But at one point I was their legal guardian. I'm Patrick's oldest brother, Julius." He stated and shook the doctor's hands.

"I'm Dr. Ames and I've been looking over Patrick," he said and looked at his clipboard again. "It seems to me that his asthma attack had been triggered by cigarette smoke, but it had gotten significantly worse as he had a panic attack on top of it." He looked at Julius with genuine sympathy and concern. "Any reason why?"

"Uh, yeah," Julius lightly ran his hand over his head. "Um, my brothers and sisters, my dad used to abuse them for a long time," he cleared his throat. "And he used to smoke, which would cause small asthma problems with them."Julius calmed down as Brittany rubbed his back in soothing circles. "Dad has recently been sent to jail and he must have smelled the smoke and thought he was back, giving him an asthma attack." Julius replied. "That's all that I can get out of it."

"Is he ok?" Kendall demanded.

"Patrick is fine,' Dr. Ames replied with a smile. "We had to check his blood pressure a couple of times, and we put him on a nebulizer, but he is perfectly fine right now. Although I'd have to advise you to keep a good eye on him for the rest of the day, just in case."

"Thanks." Noah gave a soft smile and nodded. "C'mon," he took Katie's hand and the two hurried to the room that they had taken Patrick into, everyone else following behind them. "Hey!" Noah called as soon as he burst into the room.

"Hi." Patrick replied cheerfully, taking his eyes away from the TV. "What's up?"

"What's up?" Noah repeated, eyes growing wide. He dropped Katie's hand, reached out, and punched Patrick on the arm before giving him a hug. "You get an asthma attack and you just sit here with your bare face hanging out and ask me what's up?"

Sydney hurried into the room and practically jumped onto his brother, giving him the biggest hug he ever received. Patrick laughed and hugged him back as everyone else filed into the room, sighing in relief when they saw that Patrick was sitting up. "Uh, yeah," Patrick replied, turning back to Noah. "Besides, I'm fine."

"You scared us to death you know," Katie stated, now it was her turn to punch him on the arm. "I didn't know what was wrong with you."

"Don't worry about him," Riley smiled as she moved forward and kissed her brother on the forehead, Rhuben kissed him on the cheek as well, causing him to blush. "He always plays it down whenever he gets hurt or something."

"Yeah, he doesn't like the attention," Rhuben added and then messed up his hair, noticing that they weren't in spikes and that Patrick didn't seem to care. "The only attention that he likes is from girls and when he's on stage."

"You sure you're feeling ok, Pat?" Jo asked as she reached forward and rested her hand on his leg.

"Yeah, the doctor said I'm clear to go back soon," Patrick replied and sat up fully, wincing as an IV was lightly tugged in the opposite direction. "Which is cool, 'cause I didn't want to miss the concert."

"We'll talk about it later," Julius stated and mussed his brother's hair. "We're going to get out of here so the doctor can take some final looks at you."

"So that's probably the first time that I've ever seen you cry that much," Noah remarked, causing his brother to roll his eyes. "I thought you were having a little trouble breathing when that guy walked by, smoking, why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't think that anything would happen." Patrick shrugged in reply.

"Yeah, well, it did," Noah replied quietly.

"Don't worry about it," Patrick shook his brother's shoulder firmly. "I'm still here," he gave a lopsided smile. "You can't get rid of me that easily."

"We wouldn't want to," Katie insisted. "Your brothers and sisters," she motioned to Riley, Rhuben, Julius, and Sydney. "They need you." She motioned to herself and Noah. "We do too. You're our best friend."

"You're my twin." Noah added.

"I know," Patrick smiled back and opened his arm and Katie and Noah moved forward and gave him a big hug.

* * *

"What do you mean you're performing?" Rhuben questioned her brother incredulously. She placed her hands on her hips and stared at him as if he was completely crazy, and in her mind, he was. (Then again it may have been from the numerous times they accidentally dropped him on his head when they were young "You're not performing tonight!"

"Like hell I'm not," Patrick replied, ignoring the look that Sydney sent his way. "The doctor said I'm fine, I can perform, alright."

"Patrick, you were in the hospital only an hour ago." Ronan reminded his son gently.

"So?" Patrick questioned stubbornly. "I'm fine, I'm not having any troubles breathing, and I promise," he fished into his pocket and pulled out an inhaler. "I'll bring this on stage with me just in case." He looked annoyed when Ronan sighed and shook his head. "You're not going to talk me out of this."

"I didn't think he'd be able to," James commented. Everyone was sitting around him as they sat backstage, getting ready for the concert. Suddenly the door burst open and Carlos and Stephanie hurried into the room.

"Where have you guys been?" Camille questioned once she saw them.

"I'm sorry that we couldn't get to you sooner, Pat." Stephanie stated as she hurried over to him and gave him a hug, causing him to smile. "Are you ok?" she asked, when she pulled away, allowing Carlos to give him a bear hug as well.

"Carlos, release!" Patrick gasped and then sighed in relief when Carlos let him go again. "It's ok that you guys weren't there, Dad, Kelly, Gustavo, and Mama Knight couldn't get there either, I'm fine."

"I didn't get Logan's message for a while," Carlos said, looking apologetic. "My phone was off."

"Mine was dead." Stephanie added.

"Guys, you're fine!" Patrick replied, laughing incredulously. "I'm fine! Seriously, watch." He got up from his chair and moved back so he didn't hit anyone and then flipped forward onto his hands and then moved back to his feet. Then he did a perfect back-flip, landing on his feet then too. He stood up straight, his arms out as if saying 'ta da', and smiled. "I'm not out of breath, I'm fine." He turned to Big Time Rush. "Guys, go out and do your thing, stop worrying about me." He winked.

"Well, if you're sure." Logan replied slowly.

"I am." Patrick insisted.

"Ok, the rest of us are going to the audience then," Katie gave him another hug before she and the others left to go get their seats. The guys then got their makeup done and went out to the stage and started the concert.

They had gone through _Any Kind of Guy, Famous, and The City is Ours_ and was in the middle of _Big Time Rush_ when the incident happened. The song had started off without a hitch, but then when it came to the part where James and Logan were supposed to do the back flip, was when it happened. James had known that something had gone wrong, maybe he had jumped too early, maybe his shoes slipped, he didn't know for sure, but before he knew it, he had landed on his feet, but the momentum caused him to stumble back and to fall off the side of the stage.

Kendall, Logan, and Carlos stopped singing and hurried over to the end of the stage as the crowd murmured loudly. "Dude?" Kendall asked as they peered over at him. "Dude, are you ok?"

"You really hit the ground hard." Carlos commented.

"Carlos!" Logan reached out and slapped him on the back, almost sending him off of the side of the stage.

"I'm fine guys," James stated and grabbed their hands and allowed himself to be hauled back on stage. His cheeks were flaming, and anyone would have thought that it was from how hard he had been working on stage, but it was actually from the fact that he was genuinely embarrassed and mad at himself. '_How could I go and screw up so badly like that_? _Stupid James, how could you be so stupid?_'

"Dude, you sure you're ok?" Kendall asked, coming up by him again.

"Yeah, I'm good." James replied and put his microphone back up to his mouth. "Sorry guys, I must have slipped or something, would you mind if we tried that again?" He forced a smile at the screaming that he got in reply. "This is Big Time Rush."

They moved through the song again without a hitch (although this time James decided not to do the back-flip with Logan, in case he fell again) and it was a good show. The crowd was hyped and that was what anyone could ask for. The boys went backstage before they went and joined their friends in the audience as the DarkElements took the stage.

After going through most of their songs, they stopped the concert a while to announce some winners for a contest that they had announced at the beginning of the concert. Whoever were the first two to correctly respond to a trivia tweet that Patrick had asked, would be able to go on stage for the concert for a special surprise.

"So you're our winners," Sydney stated as he picked up a microphone from the microphone stand and walked over to the two girls that were sitting on stools at the end of the stage. "What are your names?" he asked and moved the microphone forward.

"I'm Layla," the girl on the left with dark brown hair with natural light brown highlights, hazel eyes, and freckles replied confidently. She was grinning widely. "It's nice to meet you." She reached out and shook Sydney's hand.

"Nice to meet you too," Sydney replied and moved over to the other girl, who was biting her nails. "And you are?"

"I'm Charlie," the girl with brown hair pulled up into a ponytail with strands framing her face, and blue eyes replied quietly, blushing a little.

"Well, it's nice to meet the both of you," Sydney replied. "And we're so excited that you guys won the contest because," he snapped his fingers towards the side and a stage hand quickly walked out, handed him something, and hurried off stage. "You guys, along with being able to be on stage with us, have won two backstage passes for whatever show of ours you want to go to, even if its next year, air fare and hotel accommodations are on us."

"Everybody," Patrick moved to his microphone and spoke into it, his bass guitar hanging from his shoulders. "Give a round of applause for Layla and Charlie." He started clapping, getting Riley, Rhuben, Noah, and Sydney to join in as well as the audience.

"That's awesome! Thanks so much!" Layla cried, her eyes shining.

"Thank You" Charlie added politely.

"Along with that," Rhuben quickly spoke into her headmic, where she was sitting behind a drum set. She was twirling a pair of drum sticks around her fingers. She set it down as she adjusted the back of her headmics. "You two get to decide which are the next two songs that we perform."

"Charlie, you go first." Sydney instructed.

"Um," Charlie blushed a little as she thought. "Can you do a new one?"

"A new one?" Riley repeated, placing her hands on her hips. "Can we do a new one?" she looked over at her brothers and sisters, who shrugged. "Like never before heard of?"

"Sounds like it." Noah agreed.

"You know what," Riley walked over to Charlie and grabbed her hand, tugging her off of the stool and walking her to the center of the stage. "Why not ask our dad?" The audience started to scream as she said it. A lot of girls in the world said that their newly adoptive father was probably one of the hottest men in the world. "Dad!" she called, her voice echoing along the stadium.

"Ronan!" Rhuben joined in.

Soon the five of them were shouting 'dad' over and over again until a stage man had shoved him out on stage. Mrs. Knight smiled and shook her head as those around her laughed, seeing how uncomfortable Ronan was as he walked across the stage towards his kids.

"Do you have a good reason for embarrassing me like this?" Ronan asked, his voice being caught on Riley's head mic.

"Yes," Rhuben replied and paused dramatically. "Because it's fun."

"Right," Ronan replied as he rolled his eyes.

"So Ronan, Charlie here has a question for you." Riley stated and lightly shoved the girl towards him.

"Um," Charlie looked shyer there than she had ever had before. "I was, um, wondering, if they were able to play a new song for us."

"It depends on what you were thinking," Ronan replied as he looked over at Riley, who smiled sweetly, causing him to look at her suspiciously. "The first one or the second one?" He widened his eyes and held his hands over his ears as his sons and daughters started to shout their answers. "At the risk of losing my hearing, go with the first one, that's the new single that you guys are going to be releasing soon." He looked around. "Did I help?"

"Yes," Noah smiled. "Thanks Ronan."

"You're welcome." Ronan replied and turned around and quickly walked off stage.

"Well it's your lucky day," Rhuben stated as Riley led Charlie back over to her stool and then set up her microphone. Rhuben walked out from behind the drum set and handed Noah her drumsticks as he handed her a silver Fender guitar. "We're going to perform a song that no one besides us has heard yet." She smiled as the audience cheered. "This song is an upbeat dance/rock song that we really love." She adjusted the microphone in front of her as Riley and Patrick tuned their guitars. "It's called When I'm Gone."

Noah counted out a beat on his drumsticks and they started to play the familiar tune to the beginning of the song. Riley stepped up to the microphone and pushed her guitar behind her, grabbing onto the microphone with both hands as she looked out at the audience.

"I look around me but all I seem to see is people going nowhere, expecting sympathy." She sang and brushed her hair out of her face. It's like we're going through the motions of a scripted destiny. Tell me where's our inspiration? If life won't wait, I guess it's up to me." She pulled her guitar back in front of her and started to play it to come in with the chorus.

"Woah!" Patrick, Noah, and Sydney sang.

"No, we're not gonna waste another moment in this town." The Jacksons sang in unison.

"Woah!"

"And we won't come back your world is calling out."

"Woah!

"We'll leave the past in the past, gonna find the future. If misery loves company well, so long, you'll miss me when I'm gone."

"You're gonna miss me when I'm gone." Riley repeated and backed away from the microphone as Rhuben moved up to hers and started singing.

"Procrastination, running circles in my head, while you sit there contemplating, you wound up left for dead." She tilted her head to the side as she sang, moving her eyes along the audience, making sure she made eye-contact with as many people as she could. "Life is what happens while you're busy making your excuses. Another day, another casualty, but that won't happen to me."

They moved through the chorus again, getting more into it, and feeding off of the energy that the crowd had thrown back to them. Patrick though, had heeded the doctors warning and didn't go as crazy as he usually did on stage, but was having fun anyway. Soon it was his, Noah's, and Sydney's turns to sing.

"Won't look back, when I say goodbye. " Patrick sang.

"I'm gonna leave this a hole behind me, gonna take what's mine tonight." Noah sang.

"Because every wasted day becomes a wasted chance." Sydney sang.

"You're gonna wake up feeling sorry, because life won't wait, I guess it's up to you." Patrick, Noah, and Sydney sang as they moved into the final run of the chorus.

"Woah!" Riley sang.

"No, we're not gonna waste another moment in this town." Patrick, Noah, and Sydney sang.

"Woah!" Rhuben sang.

"And we won't come back your world is calling out."

"Woah!" Riley and Rhuben sang.

"We'll leave the past in the past, gonna find the future. If misery loves company well, so long, you'll miss me when I'm gone." Sydney sang.

"You're gonna miss me when I'm gone." Rhuben sang.

"You're gonna miss me when I'm gone." Riley sang.

"You're gonna miss me when I'm gone." Noah sang.

"You're gonna miss me when I'm gone." Patrick concluded. He grinned and waved at the crowd as they screamed and cheered their approval. "Thank you, thank you so much!" He cleared his throat and turned to Layla. "What song would you like us to sing, Layla?"

"Um, I really like you guys' song Anthem of Our Dying Day," Layla stated with a grin. "I love your guys' music and I loved your darker songs, it gave me something to show along to, you know?"

"Yeah, we understand that perfectly." Riley replied as Rhuben traded the drum set with Noah and he took the guitar as Sydney picked up a microphone and moved to the front of the stage, away from his piano. "This is a song that Rhuben, Patrick, and I wrote. It's one of the songs that we wrote to talk about how we were dealing with our abuse so it is one of our darkest ones, we'll do our best with this one as we haven't done it in a while."

"This is Anthem of Our Dying Day." Sydney said into his microphone and waited as Noah started the opening of the song.

"The stars will cry the blackest tears tonight," Sydney sang into the microphone as he walked to the front of the stage and bent down, touching people's hands and trying not to get pulled down. "And this is the moment that I live for, I can smell the ocean air. "Here I am…" he pulled the microphone form his mouth and held it out so the audience shouted the words back at them.

_"Pouring my heart onto these rooftops, just a ghost to the world." _Katie, Jo, Camille, Stephanie, and Carlos gleefully shouted the lyrics along with the song, having heard the song a million times before. But James, Logan, and Kendall chose not to, they still weren't used to the fact that they were willingly singing songs about their past. But if they were ok way it, and then they would be too.

"That's exactly, exactly what I need." Sydney pulled the microphone back to his mouth and started to sing again. "From up here the city lights burn, like a thousand miles of fire. And I'm here to sing this anthem, of our dying day." He jumped backwards as Riley, Patrick, and Noah jumped around the stage, still playing their guitars.

"For a second I wish the tide," Sydney sang and paused as Patrick stopped playing the bass and pointed over to Riley, who had stopped playing and grabbed her guitar, swinging it around her neck, causing the audience to scream in appreciation. "Would swallow every inch of this city, as you gasp for air tonight.

"I'd scream this song right in your face if you were here," Noah came in, singing with Sydney. "I swear I won't miss a beat, cause I never, never have before."

"From up here the city lights burn, like a thousand miles of fire." Riley, Rhuben, and Sydney sang as Patrick took his guitar and swung it around his neck as he spun in a circle at the same time. "And I'm here to sing this anthem of our dying day."

"Of our dying day," Sydney sang and skipped to the front of the stage. "Of our dying day." As he sang, Riley, Patrick, and Noah jumped up and down along with the pulses of music. "Of our dying!" He screamed along with Patrick, shocking his friends, who didn't know that he could do scream as well.

Sydney took a breath as he wiped sweat off of his forehead. Riley and Noah smiled as they pressed their foreheads together and continued to play the melody to the song. "For a second I wish the tide would swallow every inch of this city."

"As you gasp for air tonight!" Patrick screamed into his microphone as Riley and Noah stopped playing the guitar and Rhuben continued to hit the hit-hat and the crash symbol as well as hitting the bass drum.

"From up here the city lights burn, like a thousand miles of fire." Rhuben sang, twirling one drumstick through her fingers and using the other to continue to hit the drums. "And I'm here to sing this anthem of our dying day." She sang as Riley did a pick-slide and spun in a tight circle.

"From up here the city lights burn like a thousand miles of fire and I'm here to sing this anthem of our dying day." Riley and Sydney sang in unison. Riley held out the word 'day' as Sydney continued to sing the next part of the song.

"From up here the city lights burn," He squeezed his eyes shut and bent down, holding onto his stomach, putting a lot of emotion into the song. "Like a thousand miles of fire and I'm here to sing this anthem of our dying day."

"Our dying day." Patrick came in screaming along with Sydney.

"Of our dying!" Riley, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney screamed in unison and ended the song with a crash of the symbols. Riley rubbed her throat and made a face as the audience clapped and cheered, glow sticks flying.

"Thanks, Thank You," Rhuben got down and traded places with Noah again, but this time a stage hand dragged another stool onstage and Patrick sat down on it, away from the microphone as Sydney went to the piano. "This is our last song of the night and it's really special to us," she explained to the audience as the lights turned to a light blue. "Especially to Riles and me."

"It's special to us because today is our father's birthday," Riley explained and the audience started to fall quiet. "I…don't really remember what age he would have turned today, but in a way his and our mom's death was a blessing in disguise because if that didn't happen, then we wouldn't have met Ronan, he wouldn't have adopted us, and we wouldn't have the friends that we have now."

"So this song we're dedicating in memory of our mom's and dad's death and we're also dedicating it to Ronan, because he was the one that helped turn our lives around." Rhuben concluded. "This is called The Heart Never Lies." She nodded over at Sydney, who smiled and nodded back and started to play a pretty tune on the piano.

"Some people laugh, some people cry," Riley sang as she tucked her hair behind her ears and lightly rested her hands on her guitar. She had her eyes closed, her lips pressed right against the microphone. "Some people live, some people die. Some people run, right into the fire and some people hide their every desire. But we are the lovers, if you don't believe me, then just look into my eyes 'cause the heart never lies."

Noah came in with the drums, then Patrick on bass, then Rhuben with the rhythm section of the guitar, and then finally Riley on lead guitar as Rhuben moved up to the microphone and started to sing.

"Some people fight, some people fall," Rhuben rubbed a spot by her eye and continued to play. "Others pretend they don't care at all. If you wanna fight I'll stand right beside you. The day that you fall I'll be right behind you. To pick up the pieces, if you don't believe me, just look into my eyes, 'cause the heart never lies."

Noah tilted his head down as he played the drums, tears falling down his cheeks, unbeknownst to him, Sydney and Patrick were crying as well.

"Woah" Rhuben sang into the microphone, using as much emotion as she could with the song. It wasn't hard; all memories of her parents were flying through her head. She wasn't surprised when she felt tears start to slide down her cheeks. Riley fell to her knees as she continued to play the lead of the guitar. "Woah."

Riley quickly got back to her feet and moved to the microphone. "Another year over, and we're still together," Riley sang into the microphone as the flood gates opened and she started to openly cry as well, struggling to make sure that she could still sing. Rhuben spun in little tight circles as she played the guitar. "It's not always easy, but I'm here forever.

Riley and Rhuben moved to the same microphone and sang into it together. "But we are the lovers."

"I know you believe me," Rhuben sang. "When you look into my eyes 'cause the heart never lies."

"Oh, because the heart never lies." Riley sang.

"Because the heart never lies." Riley and Rhuben concluded in unison.

"Thank you everybody," Sydney waved, hastily wiping tears off of his cheeks. "Thanks for coming, you all are beautiful, you're all legend. Good night and take care!" He moved out from behind the piano and they all hurried off stage.

* * *

After the concert, everyone went back to the hotel, got their stuff, and then got back on the bus to drive to the next destination. Even though they were done with the concerts until after Thanksgiving, they still wanted to drive around and see the sights. They were also trying to see if they could make it to Minnesota by Thanksgiving. No one brought up the song 'The Heart Never Lies' just in case the Jacksons would be too upset to talk about it. But Ronan was beaming proudly when they had gotten off stage and hugged them tightly, thanking them for dedicating the song to him. They responded by saying that it was no problem and that they meant it and then had gone off to get ready to sleep.

"Hey Ruby," Kendall called back towards the bunks as he stared at his laptop screen. There were a few seconds of silence and then the sound of a curtain being pulled back before he heard padding footsteps.

"What?" she snapped when he walked over to him, her hair pulled up into pigtails, her glasses on her face, and wearing a red t-shirt and baggy gray sweat pants. Her feet were bare, nevertheless, Kendall though she looked beautiful. "I'm trying to get some well deserved sleep." She peered at him."What are you doing?"

"I have an English paper due to Miss. Collins and I need help." Kendall replied, sounding miserable. "I know you're good at English, so I thought I would get your help." He then smiled charmingly. Riley's lip twitched and then she sighed.

"Hold on," she turned and walked back to the bunks, only to come back a second later, carrying a large sketchpad and pencils and erasers. "Might as well have something to do while I'm helping you." She stated and opened the book and started to draw something. "What is the paper on exactly?"

"Have you ever read _A Thousand Splendid Suns_?" Kendall questioned, typing something and then erasing it.

"Yeah," Riley replied and lowered her eyebrows as she continued to sketch. Kendall watched her, leaning back in the booth style seat as he watched her. Her face was set in a peaceful sense of concentration, her tongue between her teeth, and her hand flying over the paper. "What?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Nothing," Kendall replied. "I just think that you look really pretty." He smiled.

"I'm in my pajamas." Riley replied, lifting her head fully.

"Exactly."

"Would you just go back to your essay?" Riley asked, putting down her pencil and looking at him over the top of her sketchpad. "You're distracting me."

"Well, I'm sorry," Kendall sounded frustrated as he ran his hands over his face. "I just can't focus."

"It's English, Hockey-Head, not rocket science," Riley commented. "You just use your fingers," she wiggled hers in Kendall's face. "And type on a laptop to write an essay on a book that you've read that you will print out and mail back to Miss. Collins." She was speaking slowly, as if to a child and smiled warmly.

"Easy for you to say, you're a whiz at English." Kendall sighed and cupped his chin in his hands. "Not that it matters because English is probably the least useful thing in the world." He waited for a few seconds, waiting for her response and then he looked up when he noticed that Riley was gathering her things together. "What?" he questioned. "What'd I say?"

"Do what you want, Kendall," Riley stated as she closed her sketchbook and gathered up her pencils and erasers. She looked at him with her blue eyes set in anger, causing him to feel bewildered, not sure what he had done wrong. "I don't care."

She slid out of the booth and tucked her sketchpad under her arm and walked over to the stairs.

"Kendall?" Kendall leaned over in his seat and watched as Riley walked away. "You never call me, Kendall."

He frowned.

"Wait!" Then he got up and chased after her, going as fast as he could, making sure he didn't fall as the bus rocked back and forth. "Wait, Riley, wait." Kendall breathed a sigh of relief when Riley stopped and turned around to look at him. "What did I say?"

"Don't worry about it," Riley replied shortly. "I'm tired; I want to go to sleep."

"And yet, I know you well enough to know that I shouldn't leave you alone when you're mad at someone for something," Kendall insisted. "Did I say something wrong? Did I offend you somehow?" he searched her eyes with his.

Riley rubbed her forehead. "Trust me, it's really stupid," she muttered. "I don't know, I was just thinking that you said the same thing my dad said when I used to want to be a writer before I wanted to be a doctor. Every time I wanted to show him something that I had written and he said that it was crap and that it was a waste of time." She smiled a little. "Sorry, I just had a feeling that I should have believed him."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Kendall sincerely apologized. "I didn't know."

"How could you?" Riley placed her sketchpad on the ground and then rubbed her right arm with her left hand. "I didn't tell you, it was all stupid really." Her eyes suddenly lit up. "You know what else is stupid? I was listening on the radio and apparently a lot of schools are getting off because of impending snow they're getting soon. I mean, who closes school that early?" she continued to rattle on and Kendall looked at her oddly, wondering how she had even got to that topic. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she questioned suddenly.

"Nothing, you just kind of really jumped topics there," Kendall replied, slightly turning his head. "Are you ok?"

"Fine," Riley replied, rubbing her arm again. Kendall noticed and reached out to take his hand, but she moved it back away from him. He narrowed his eyes and then grabbed her hand and pulled it forward, turning her arm over.

"Sorry," Kendall apologized after a second. "I thought that you were…" he dropped his head. "Um, I mean, I thought that there were new," he trailed off again.

"You thought that I was cutting again?" Riley guessed and then snorted when Kendall nodded. "Yeah, like I'd want you to yell at me again."

_Eyes still closed, Kendall gently moved his hand down her arms. He felt something odd when he came to her wrists and he opened his eyes again, looking confused._

_Riley's eyes flew open and "What?" Riley asked breathlessly when she saw the look on his face._

_"What's this?" Kendall asked as he pointed to her wrist, seeing a line of scars on her arm. A lot of them were old but a few of them were new._

_Riley quickly pulled her arm back, looking scared. "It's nothing." She replied quickly. "Really."_

_"If it's nothing then why are you getting so nervous about it?" Kendall questioned gently._

_"I'm not." Riley replied and gently pushed Kendall off of her. "I fell into a thorn bush." She turned and gave him a gentle smile. "That's all."_

_"Do you think I'm stupid?" Kendall asked as he stared at her._

_"No." Riley shook her head._

_"Then do you seriously think that I would fall for that?" Kendall demanded as he stared right at Riley, who stared back at him. "You can't fall into a thorn bush and have it scratch you all up the arm like that." He looked again. "Plus, you have some old and new scars." He added._

_"I…I…" Riley stammered, not sure what to say._

_"Have you been hurting yourself?" Kendall questioned quietly. Riley didn't answer, but she looked away from him. "HAVE YOU BEEN HURTING YOURSELF?" Riley flinched horribly. He didn't mean to scream at her, he didn't mean to scare her. But he was so scared about her hurting herself. He cared about her so much he didn't want anything to happen to her._

"I'm sorry about that," Kendall replied, looking at his feet. "And I'm sorry for making you upset a few minutes ago. I'm just a stupid guy that can't seem to do anything right." He lifted his head a little, looking at Riley through his bangs and his eyelashes, pouting. "Can you ever forgive me?"

'_Yes'_ Riley thought to herself as she crossed her arms over her chest and rocked back and forth on her heels, stalling for time. She laughed a little when Kendall forced his bottom lip out even futher. "Maybe." Riley replied with a smile.

Kendall moved forward and kissed her. "How about now?" he questioned, resting his forehead against hers.

"Eh," Riley replied and smiled as Kendall kissed her again.

"Now?"

"Meh."

He kissed her again.

"Now?"

"Would you shut up and forgive him?" Patrick shouted from his bunk bed, pulling back the curtain and glaring at the two of them. "I'm trying to _sleep_ here!" He rolled over and pulled the curtain back over.

"Sorry, I'll let you go to sleep." Kendall apologized and kissed her forehead. Riley grabbed his bicep as he tried to move away from her.

"I haven't forgiven you yet," she replied and wrapped her arms around his neck, stood her tip-toes, and kissed him passionately, smiling as Kendall wrapped his arms around her lower back.

* * *

**A/N: And there you guys go, Patrick is fine, I needed to put that bit with Carphanie (sorry if you guys were grossed out by it) because I needed to show that they're teenagers and they don't just get in trouble. But don't worry, nothing bad is going to happen with them, they just declared their love for each other and Stephanie helped Carlos a little bit, although his problems aren't going to go away completely. Now Kendall knows that there's something that Riley isn't telling him, as well as his problems with his father, it could cause him to get even more stressed. I hope you guys liked this chapter, I'll update again soon.**

**Next chapter Logan tries to help his friends (along with the help mostly coming from Camille and WayneWayne), because he knows that something is bothering them. Sorry guys, Jameo and Julany in the next chapter and its going to have drama/angst but be more lighthearted.**

**When I'm Gone is owned by – Simple Plan, Anthem Of Our Dying Day is owned by – Story of the Year, and The Heart Never Lies is owned by – McFly, I suggest you listen to all of them when you read this chapter. (Listen to the live versions of Anthem of Our Dying Day from Pepsi Smash and The Heart Never Lies from McFly.)**

**-Riley**


	12. Big Time Boys

**Chapter Twelve – Big Time Boys**

**

* * *

**"Hut, Hut, Hike!"

Ronan and Julius winced as Patrick and Noah ran into each other; both trying to keep each other from getting the football that Rhuben was running down the field, Riley and Sydney running behind her. Beside them, Brittany was sitting down on the grass, reading a book. Sydney finally tackled Rhuben to the ground and they set up another play.

"Ooh that one had to hurt." Julius stated as Patrick lay sprawled across the grass, laughing. Noah and Sydney were standing over him, obviously wondering if he was ok as Riley and Rhuben stood off to the side, waiting.

"I don't think so," Ronan shook his head, narrowing his eyes as he watched. "He's laughing."

"He always laughs when he gets hurt." Julius replied simply and smiled a little as Riley walked over and tugged her brother off of the ground with one pull. "The only problem with that is that we can never really tell if he's really hurt or not because he's laughing too hard."

"I'm sure that's the only problem," Ronan replied sarcastically, causing Brittany to laugh.

They were taking one of their days off, before Thanksgiving, to spend some time with each other, just their family. (Not that they don't like to hang out with their friends, but they want some time for their family to just hang out with each either.) So Rhuben had suggested that they go to the park to hang out and to play some games and they all jumped at the chance, since it was still in the low 60s and they knew it was probably one of the last few days that they would be able to do it.

Ronan reached over into the picnic basket that they had brought along and grabbed a green apple. "So have you guys thought about the date of your wedding?" Ronan questioned as he loudly bit into the fruit and chewed loudly. Julius looked at Ronan as if he were crazy. He opened his mouth to reply, but Brittany beat him to it.

"We haven't really thought anything of it because of all of the tour stuff that we've been doing," Brittany replied as she shook her head. "And there's so much to do, since we want to have our friends and family there." She started to count off on her fingers. "We need a place for the wedding, a place for the reception, a catering business, invitations, along with having to get pictures done to announce our engagement-"

"Yeah about the getting pictures to announce the engagement thing," Ronan interrupted. "I have a suggestion." He looked over his apple and took another bite. He waited for Julius and Brittany to respond to what he said.

"Oh yeah, what's that?" Julius tilted his head to the side, looking skeptical.

"Don't." Ronan replied simply.

"Why?" Julius asked slowly.

"Well that means that it's going to get all over the world, you know because you're the brother of probably one of the hottest bands in the world right now," Ronan replied as he motioned to Julius. "And that means that everyone is going to know, and while I think that your family is going to be really happy for you," he now looked at Julius. "I wouldn't want it to get out."

"Why?" Julius repeated in the same tone as before. Brittany elbowed him in the side, but the suspicious look on his face didn't falter.

"Honestly," Ronan pursed his lips and rubbed the back of his neck. He blew out a breath of air and shielded his face from the sun. "I wouldn't want my family to know about it."

"Because?" Brittany prompted.

"My family is crazy." Ronan replied point-blank.

"They can't be nearly as crazy as my family is," Julius pointed out as he motioned onto the field where Rhuben and Patrick were yelling at each other, most likely over a bad call to see who had just won a touchdown. "Exhibit A"

"I'm telling you, that point _doesn't count_!" Patrick was saying as he crossed his arms over his chest. "You didn't go past the line of trees that we specifically said would be the end zone."

"Hey Pat, I have a suggestion," Rhuben stated, cradling the ball in her arms. "How about you stop talking?"

"Why?" Patrick crossed his arms over his chest."

"Because you're a guy and whenever guys talk, stupid comes out!" Rhuben replied and shoved the football into his chest. "Our point!"

"Oh yeah, well," Patrick moved the football to this hand. "At least I don't throw like a girl!" He started to throw the ball over to Noah, but it slipped out of his hands and went shooting across the grass and into Julius' face.

"Ooh" Riley, Rhuben, Noah, and Sydney winced.

Julius caught the ball in his outstretched hands and rolled his jaw as Ronan burst out laughing. "Who threw that?" he demanded. Riley, Rhuben, Noah, and Sydney took one large step back, leaving Patrick standing in front of them with a sheepish smile on his face. "You know you're going to want to run, right?" he stated as he stood up and tossed the football to the ground.

"There's really no point," Patrick replied with a shrug. "You could catch up to me in three steps."

"Good point" Julius bounded down the small hill that he, Ronan, and Brittany were sitting on and ran over to his brother, lifting him over his shoulder and spinning him around in a circle as Patrick laughed and screamed for Julius to put him down.

Ronan smiled and laughed as he watched the six of them run around, laughing and having a good time with each other. He hadn't seen it in a while and it was something that he enjoyed very much. He laughed as Riley and Rhuben grabbed Sydney by the arms and legs and started to swing him back and forth. Patrick and Noah jumped up onto Julius' back and knocked him to the ground.

Brittany smiled and rolled her eyes as she looked over at Ronan. "Go ahead" she stated and laughed as Ronan got to his feet and ran over to his kids and started to play with them as well.

"DOG PILE!" He shouted and (gently) jumped on top of his kids.

"It's a good thing they aren't normal," Brittany stated as she grabbed Julius' camera and started to take pictures. "Or life would be very boring."

* * *

"Hey, what are we doing tonight?" Kendall asked as he grabbed Riley's arm as she walked by him in the sitting area of the Jacksons' suite. (They had stopped in Nebraska on their way to Minnesota for Thanksgiving.)

"We," she pointed to herself and Kendall. "Aren't doing anything because we," she pointed to herself and Rhuben, who was sitting down on the couch, channel surfing, ignoring James and Carlos as they shouted at her to stop on a channel. "Are having a sleepover tonight with the girls. You guys are going to have to fend for yourselves."

"What do you mean we have to fend for ourselves?" Carlos asked, furrowing his eyebrows together. "It's not like we're going to burn the suite down or anything."

"You don't know that for sure," Rhuben stated and slapped the remote into WayneWayne's hand. "The only reason I'm giving it to you is because you didn't bug me for it." She stated and patted him on the head.

"You're welcome." WayneWayne replied with a smile and stuck out his tongue at Carlos and James, who glared over at him. "Hahaha." He sang mockingly.

"Go and have fun," Sydney stated, kicking his legs back and forth as he lied down on his stomach on the floor. "Patrick, Noah, and I will make sure that they don't burn down anything. You deserve a day where you don't have to worry about testosterone."

"Suck up" Logan coughed and smiled sweetly when Sydney turned his head and stuck his tongue out at him.

"Right," Rhuben replied slowly and got up from the couch and walked up to her sister by the door. "I say we call them ever hour to make sure that none of them are dead." She whispered, making sure that none of the guys could hear her."

"Agreed." Riley replied and gave a nod before the two left the suite.

"Now that the girls are gone," James announced as he stood up. "I suggest, to make a night where we don't have to worry about anything girly better, we go and get some junk from the grocery store."

"Oh yeah?" Noah snorted. "How do you plan on paying for it?" He looked at the ceiling as Kendall, James, Logan, Carlos, and WayneWayne all smiled at him. "I should have seen that coming." He stated, shaking his head. He nudged Patrick's shoulder with his own. "Did you get Ronan's credit card?"

Patrick smiled as he pulled his hand out from behind his back and held up a gold card. "You'd figure by now he would stop leaving his wallet in his back pocket when anyone who is a trained pick-pocket can get it."

"You pick-pocketed him?" Carlos laughed, sounding impressed. "Where'd you learn to do that?"

"Internet" Patrick replied quickly and stood up, brushing off the back of his pants. "So are we going to go get the junk or are we just going to sit here making each other laugh until we puke."

"No, we'll do that when we get back," Kendall replied, shaking his head. "It's much funnier when you have something to puke up then stomach acid."

"Not for the ones that have to clean it" Logan reminded him, shaking his head.

"You're such a worry wart," WayneWayne stated as he slapped his friend on the back. "Sometimes it can be endearing, other times, like now, it's very, very annoying." He shoved him towards the door and followed after him. "Let's go already; we'll get a cab or something." He stopped and grabbed Carlos' shoulder. "And this time, please _don't _moon the cars that we pass."

"It was Kendall's idea," Carlos defended himself. "Besides, what kind of trouble can you get into at a grocery store?" he rolled his eyes.

"SYDNEY, DROP THAT!"

"Patrick, stop messing with the price tags!"

"Noah, you could at least try to _help _me!"

Kendall laughed as he watched Logan try to keep the three, now sugar high Jacksons, under control in the large and somewhat empty grocery store, as they went to find food to pig out on. Logan had warned them about getting into the cookies that were the free samples, but it didn't seem to make much of a difference. As soon as they had seen them, they had eaten them all and immediately went into a sugar high. Surprisingly enough, Noah was also running around and yelling loudly.

"See, what'd I tell ya?" WayneWayne commented as he grabbed a shopping cart and turned to Kendall. "If it wasn't Carlos that would go crazy it would be one of those three." He leaned against the shopping cart. "So are we going for candy or for a bunch of chips and spray cheese?"

"I think we should get the candy last," Kendall stated as he watched Patrick, Noah, and Sydney run down an aisle, hanging onto a cart with Logan running after them. "You know, just in case we get kicked out, and that way we won't have to worry about them getting into a sugar high when we're back at the hotel."

"Good point." WayneWayne stated and watched with an amused smile as Kendall got into the basket of the car himself. "Dude, what are you doing? Get out!"

"No!" Kendall replied stubbornly and smiled a little. "I _like_ riding in the shopping cart." He had to have his legs stretch out of the front of the cart because he was so tall. "Do you know when the last time I was able to ride in the cart was?"

"The same time that Carlos had made that slingshot-catapult thing?" WayneWayne guessed and shrugged.

"Exactly." Kendall nodded. He let out a cry of shock as WayneWayne tilted the cart over and spilled Kendall onto the floor. "Dude, I was just joking! I wasn't actually going to ride in the thing." WayneWayne stuck out a hand and hauled Kendall to his feet.

"I wasn't going to take any chances." WayneWayne replied and then a serious look crossed his face as he drummed his hands on the cart, following Kendall to the chip aisle. He smiled a little as Kendall grabbed every random chip back and started to throw them into the cart, obviously not caring if he broke any chips in the bag. "So, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, dude, what's up?" Kendall questioned as he looked at another bag before shrugging and tossing it into the cart as well.

"What's going on with you?" WayneWayne asked point blank. "You, James, and Carlos seem to be acting really, really strange lately and I'm not the only one that's noticed it." He stated. "The girls and Logan have noticed as well and we're all worried about you."

"Nothing's going on," Kendall replied with a shrug.

"Kendall, we're your friends, you can tell us." WayneWayne insisted.

"Dude, I'm telling you, nothing's bothering me." Kendall replied with a laugh and then rolled his eyes when he saw that WayneWayne still had the serious expression on his face. "Ok, I don't know about the other guys, but I'm just a little worried that we won't make it back home to Minnesota in time for Thanksgiving." He lied quickly; it was the first thing that came to mind. "I really want to see my family and I would like some actually down time for a while."

"Really?" WayneWayne sounded skeptical.

"Really," Kendall replied and forced a mile. "I don't know what's wrong with the other jerks though, but what I _can_ tell you is that James has been annoying me with his healthy food obsession, so I'm glad that for tonight he's going to go and eat unhealthy for once."

"And Carlos?" WayneWayne asked.

"You're going to have to ask Stephanie about that one," Kendall replied. "'Cause every now and then he's like, depressed, and then the next moment he's happy." He tossed a chip bag at WayneWayne and grinned. "Plus the two of them have been giggling like they have a secret or something, and I'm sure everyone wants to know why."

"Good point." WayneWayne agreed with a shrug.

"Dudes, check this out!" Kendall and WayneWayne looked around to see James running over to them, his arms filled with different cans and bottles. "All of this Cuda stuff is _HALF-OFF_!" He dumped it into the cart. "Now I can be set for the rest of the tour!"

"Good for you, James." Kendall stated through a fake smile and then leaned towards WayneWayne. "Remind me to hide this stuff when we get back."

"Got it." WayneWayne replied, also through a fake smile. "Which way are you thinking? Death by fire or that we 'accidentally' threw them away?"

"I'm thinking-"

All of a sudden they heard Carlos' loud scream and a loud crash followed by Patrick, Noah, and Sydney's laughter, and Logan's shout at them saying that he told them to stop before they had broken something. WayneWayne sighed. "I now understand why the girls get annoyed being around you guys all the time." He commented. "Because you guys can't go more than twenty seconds without getting in trouble."

Kendall made a face at him before he, James, and WayneWayne turned and hurried to where the source of the sound came from. Sydney, who had quickly crashed from his sugar high, looked up as Kendall, James, and WayneWayne had joined them.

"We didn't do anything." Sydney denied quickly.

"What did you do?" WayneWayne demanded, looking around at the broken jars on the floor as well as the red stuff that was seeping onto the tile and on some of their clothes, mainly their shoes and shocks.

"We didn't do anything" Sydney insisted.

"Oh yeah, then what's that all over you?" Kendall asked.

"Blood!" Carlos immediately replied.

"Carlos that was the _worst_ excuse that I have ever heard." Logan stated, lightly shoving his friend away from him before turning to face Kendall, James, and WayneWayne. "They were just having a little sock race, when I told them _not_ to, and Carlos and Patrick crashed into the shelves containing the jars of tomato sauce."

"Dude," James pouted a little. "Why didn't you ask me to join in?"

"Clean-up on aisle 3, clean-up on aisle 3," a voice said over the intercom.

"Dude, we gotta get out of here!" Patrick cried, as he suddenly crashed from his sugar high. "There's going to be some fabricated story about us in some sort of a trashy newspaper if we don't get out of here and buy the rest of this crap if we don't hurry up." He gritted his teeth as a worried look slid onto his face. "And you know that Gustavo is going to somehow find out about it and yell at us."

"You mean yell at them," Noah stated as he pointed over to Kendall, Carlos, James, and Logan. "We don't work for him."

"Good point." Patrick replied with a nod. "Bye" he turned and started to walk away, but WayneWayne grabbed onto the back of his shirt.

"Are you really going to leave your friends when you were the one that caused this mess?" WayneWayne asked. Patrick thought it over for a second and then WayneWayne tried a different tactic, knowing that it would get him. "You can help be a distraction while the rest of us hurry and get this stuff out of here before we get kicked out or arrested or something."

"Do you really think that we're going to be arrested?" Logan asked skeptically.

"No, but I wouldn't want to take my chances with it." WayneWayne replied.

"Good point." Patrick replied with a grin.

WayneWayne smiled back. He knew that that would get him, but it wasn't the only reason that he got Patrick to help. Unbeknownst to Kendall, James, and Carlos, Logan was trying to show them that they could have a good time without having to constantly worry about what was bothering them. He didn't believe Kendall for a second when he said that he was worried about getting home on time, it was definitely something bigger than that, he knew that James had been going to the gym a lot more than usual lately and was wondering what the cause of that could be, and he _had _noticed that Carlos was constantly bouncing back and forth from being happy to being depressed. Logan was the only one that seemed to be having no problems with anything at all, but WayneWayne knew that Logan knew that there was something up with his friends. They just hoped that they could figure out what it was soon so they could help their friends.

"Ok, so what are going to do?" Sydney asked, cracking his knuckles.

"How good are you guys at acting?" WayneWayne asked as he slowly started to smile.

Patrick, Noah, and Sydney listened carefully to WayneWayne's plan and then got into their places as Kendall, James, Logan, Carlos, and WayneWayne went to hide behind another aisle. Patrick quickly sat down on the ground and wiped some of the tomato sauce onto his clothes and they lay down on the ground. Noah and Sydney did the same, making sure that their arms and legs were twisted into odd angles.

"What happened here?" a young man, who was wearing the store's apron, asked as he walked up to the three of them, holding onto a broom and a dustpan. "Are you guys ok?"

"Ow, it hurts," Patrick moaned as he slowly sat up, holding onto his lower back. He pointed a tomato sauce covered hand towards the worker. "Your floors were so slippery that we crashed into this shelf and got caused bodily harm.

"Go, go, go" WayneWayne hissed and pushed his friend aside and they started to hurry out of the other aisle and towards the registers.

"Do you know how much we can sue you for?" Noah added as he stood up, miming that he was in pain. "I mean look at our baby brother," he pointed over to Sydney, who then sat up as well, mustering up fake tears as he did so. "He's _traumatized_; he'll probably never get near another jar of tomato sauce again."

"I'm sorry," the worker quickly apologized and started to turn around

Patrick quickly grabbed onto the guys' shoulders and turned them back around before he could see their friends trying to sneak away. "Ow, my back!" Patrick cried. "I think I broke my back!" He tilted his head back and let out a loud scream, causing the boy to jump and Noah quickly waved his friends away.

"Ok, ok, don't panic," the worker started to say and grabbed a walkie-talkie from the waistband of his pants. "I'll just call my manager and-"

"No need," Sydney rapidly stopped crying and wiped off his cheeks. "We're good now," he stated when the guys moved out of sight and he jumped to his feet. "Really, we're fine." Noah got to his feet and the two of them literally dragged Patrick out of the aisle and towards the front.

"You can walk now, your back isn't hurt, remember!" Noah stated sharply.

"Yeah, but I like being carried around." Patrick replied.

Noah looked over at Sydney, who nodded and the two of them dropped their brother to the ground before running over to their friends and helping them run everything through the self-scan. Patrick pulled himself off of the floor and hurried over to help as well, quickly sliding Ronan's credit card through the machine and punching the numbers of his PIN when asked.

"You know his PIN number too?" Logan asked, appalled. "What else do you guys know? His social security number as well?"

"That and I also know how to break into a-"Sydney slapped a hand over Patrick's mouth and laughed nervously.

"He has such an active imagination." He stated.

"Well come on before we get caught," Kendall and the others grabbed their bags and they quickly walked out of the store. Once they were a few blocks away, they all started to laugh hysterically.

"That was probably the most fun I've had in a long time!" Sydney cried, eyes shining as he laughed gleefully.

"That was awesome," Carlos agreed and turned to Patrick. "How did you think about the broken back thing?"

"Oh, I got if off of Invader Zim." Patrick replied with a blush of pride. "Anyway, who wants to get some movies before we go back?" he suggested. "I'll pay, and we can get, like, the scariest horror movies in the world."

"Don't you think Sydney would get scared?" Logan asked, looking at the little boy, who puffed his lower lip out in annoyance.

"I won't get scared!" he denied.

"That's sounds like fun," James grinned as he thought about being able to scare his friends silly. "Just as long as I can get to sleep at a decent hour," He added. "I need to go to the gym early tomorrow."

WayneWayne, Logan, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney exchanged frowns.

* * *

**A/N: I just wanted to have a chapter that showed how the guys got along, still with the underlying tones of them having problems that they're facing so not much is going to happen in this chapter or the next chapter. (I love writing about the chaos that the guys can get into.) So this chapter and the next chapter are filler ones. The next chapter shows how the girls get along, but still has the same thing of the BTR guys having some problems. Then the chapter after that gets REALLY dramatic. I'll update again soon.**

**-Riley**


	13. Big Time Girls

**Chapter Thirteen – Big Time Girls**

**

* * *

**"Hey, has anyone got any Skittles?" Rhuben questioned through a mouthful of Reese's as she scanned the candy pile in front of her. She grabbed two handfuls and started to dig her hands through the pile of candy. "Seriously? No one has Skittles?" She picked up a long thing piece of licorice covered in plastic. "Hey! A Twizzler!"

"Hey!" Riley reached out a hand and snatched the candy out of her twin's hand. "Twizzlers are mine!" She then grabbed all of the other twizzlers she could find and plopped the pile onto her lap and as she bit into another one.

Katie giggled as she watched the older girls talk and argue over candy. It was nice to see them by themselves and not around their boyfriends all the time; it caused them to act more like themselves. Don't get her wrong, Katie loves the guys, but she also likes to be able to spend time with the girls and was excited when Jo had invited her to have a sleepover with them. Because she is younger, she usually spends most of her time with Patrick, Noah, and Sydney, and every now and then she needed a break from their boyishness and crazy attitudes (although that's why they were her friends in the first place.)

"So what do you guys want to do first?" Stephanie asked as she picked up her video camera. "Play a few games or tell scary stories?"

"Not scary stories," Jo declared, shaking her head. "I don't want to listen to anything scary." She brushed her hair out of her face and pulled it up into a ponytail. "Especially after the last time you were making all of the scary things happen at the Palm Woods," She turned and glared at Stephanie, who just smiled sweetly in reply. "I don't want to take any chances with this one being real."

"Chicken," Katie teased and started to make 'bawking' and 'clucking' sounds, Riley, Rhuben, and Camille immediately joined in as Jo just laughed and stuck her tongue out at her friends. "But I don't blame you, I don't really believe in ghosts but I can swear that some places are haunted."

"Yeah, sure," Camille replied, rolling her eyes as she continued to look through the stash of candy. "Guys, we're running low, let's go get some more."

"Not sure if you're aware of it," Rhuben spoke up after a second of silence. "But we're in a hotel in a city we don't know, so where do you propose that we're going to be able to get some candy?"

"From the front desk," Katie grinned as she got to her feet. "I saw it on the way in, there's a candy side of the front desk, you just have to walk around." She placed her hands on her hips as she looked at the girls with an evil grin on her face. "Race ya there. Losers have to…" she trailed off, trying to think of something.

"We'll think of something." Jo stated as she got to her feet and slowly started to move towards the door. Riley noticed and raised an eyebrow as she looked at her friend oddly. "What?" Jo questioned and holding still when she noticed Riley staring at her.

"What are you doing?" she asked slowly.

"Nothing." Jo replied and held her hands up defensively.

"She's trying to cheat!" Camille shouted and leapt to her feet. "Every woman for herself!" She shouted in a loud, commanding voice.

"War movie?" Stephanie questioned.

"Yep." Camille replied and the girls laughed as they jumped up and ran for the suite door, pulling it open, and darting off into the hall. They split up and ran towards the lobby, Stephanie decided to take the elevator (which had a glass front) to see if she could get down to the lobby before the other girls did. Riley, Rhuben, Katie, Jo, and Camille took the stair case and ran down the flights of stairs as fast as they could, pushing and shoving each other as they went.

Finally, all of them reached the bottom floor and started to sprint towards the lobby as fast as they could, as Riley, Rhuben, Katie, Jo, and Camille rounded the corner to run to the lobby, they saw Stephanie step out of the elevator and run as fast as she could towards the candy counter. Stephanie reached it first and a split second later, Rhuben, Jo, Katie, Riley, and Camille (in that order) slid into the counter as well.

"Haha!" Stephanie cheered, throwing her hands into the air. "I won!"

"Yeah, yeah," Camille rubbed her elbows, which she had thrown up to make sure that she didn't crash into the counter with her stomach. "Well, you wouldn't have if three of us didn't take the same stair case."

"You're just mad that you're such a bad runner that even a snail could beat you." Katie laughed as she walked around and looked at the candy display. Her upper lip curled when she noticed that the candy was a little more expensive than she had anticipated. "Who would pay 2.00 to get a freaking bar of candy?" she demanded loudly.

"Uh, the people that work here that are trying to make a living," Jo replied in a 'duh' tone. Rhuben lightly patted her on the shoulder.

"People that work here are already getting paid a lot," she reminded her friend as she looked around the vast and very luxurious looking lobby of the hotel. "I'm not sure if you had noticed the fountain or the giant chandeliers when we walked in this morning" she rubbed her chin. "Or was it yesterday?" Rhuben threw her hands into the air. "I don't know, I don't even remember when the last time I knew the day was."

"That's what happens when you go on tour," Riley replied as she walked by, multiple bags of goldfish and candy in her arms as well as holding a bag in her teeth. "So, let's get this rung up and we can go back to the room."

"Hey, here's something that I don't understand," Camille spoke up as she looked around. "Big Time Rush _and_ you guys are some of the biggest bands right now, so why is it that there's no one here begging for your autograph?"

"Probably because Gustavo made it perfectly _LOUD_ and clear that no one is allowed to sneak into the hotel or ask for autographs." Katie replied, speaking of the boys' very loud and sometimes very rude music producer. "Then again, he does know what he's doing."

The girls paid for their candy and were making their way to the elevators when the boys walked in through the front doors. Now, normally the girls wouldn't have given their constant scared looks over their shoulders a second thought, but Riley and Rhuben both stopped and stared at their brothers when they saw that there was something red all over their shirts.

"Should I even ask?" Rhuben questioned, getting their attention.

"What is that…all over your shirt?" Riley added as she looked at Patrick with narrowed eyes. She reached out a hand and grabbed his head, moving him towards her and sniffed his neck. "Tomato sauce," she confirmed and then rubbed her temples. "Nope, I don't even want to know, because this was probably stupider than anything that I had ever come up with."

"You'd probably be right," WayneWayne replied with a small, secretive smile. "It will keep you from getting a headache if you heard it as well."

"Too late." Camille stated, shaking her head as she rubbed her forehead.

"Isn't that a lot of junk food?" Kendall questioned with a laugh when he noticed the bags that were filling up his girlfriend's arms. "You're not going to eat all of that yourself are you?"

"No," Patrick grinned and took some of the candy that was in his sister's arms. "Because she is such a loving and caring sister, she's going to share."

"You're lucky that I am that nice." Riley replied before the girls waved and parted ways from the boys and went back up to their suite.

* * *

"So, I'm sure I'm not the only one that's noticed that the guys have been acting funny." Camille stated as she rested her hands on her knees, looking each girl in the eye. "Well, the Big Time Rush guys, WayneWayne is perfectly fine and your brothers," she nodded over to Riley and Rhuben. "Are as wacky as always."

"You got that right," Rhuben raised her eyebrows as she coughed. She had a notebook against her knees and was writing something on it. She turned to her sister and handed her the notebook. "What do you think about this?" Riley took it, read it over and nodded and then handed it back to her sister. "Alright, I'm almost done with my part, Pat, No, and Syd said they'd work on theirs and you have to do yours."

"What are you doing?" Jo questioned.

"Writing a new song." Riley replied and then smirked when she saw a hopeful smile spread across Jo's face. "Sorry, you can't hear it until it's completely finished." She laughed as Jo pouted.

"Hel-_lo_!" Camille waved her hands in the air. "Can we get back to the point at hand please?" she placed her hands on her hips. "Kendall, James, Carlos, _and_ Logan, well," she paused. "Logan not really, have been acting very strange." She started to count off on her fingers. "James is even more obsessed with his looks, which is a hard stretch for him, Kendall isn't being his normal leader-talk-back-to-Gustavo self and Carlos isn't being Carlos."

"Carlos is fine," Stephanie supplied quickly. She shrugged when everyone looked at him. "I mean," she let out a huge breath of air. "Earlier, at the start of the tour he was kind of upset because he was looking at the guys' website and saw that he wasn't as popular as others."

"Wow, cheep blow to the self esteem." Katie spoke up after a second of silence. Her mind had been on her brother. '_What could be bothering Kendall?'_ she thought to herself, wrinkling her nose in concern. '_And why wouldn't he tell me if something is wrong? We tell each other everything._'

"Exactly," Stephanie nodded in reply. "So I've been trying to reassure him that everything is fine and even if he isn't the fans' favorite, he's my favorite and yadda, yadda, yadda." She tried to wave it off, but Rhuben looked at her friend with a small smile curling on her lips. "What?"

"There's something you're not telling us." Rhuben stated after a second and Stephanie gaped at her, wondering how she could know that. "You're forgetting that we," she motioned to herself and her sister, who was now writing in the notebook. "Are very perceptive."

"Jackson Curse." Camille teased.

"No actually, this can be seen as good thing," Rhuben replied, looking away from Stephanie for a second, but then went right back to her. "You never told us why you and Carlos were, like, really late to meeting us at the hospital when Patrick had an asthma attack." She smirked. "What happened?"

"I told you, our phones were off." Stephanie replied.

"No, yours was dead," Jo commented, thinking back to that day. "You said that yourself. Carlos' was dead."

"Yeah," Stephanie shrugged as her cheeks slowly started to turn red. "He had turned it off when he and some of the guys were in the arcade." She shrugged again. "He didn't turn it back on."

"But he always has it on because his mom calls him a lot," Rhuben continued with her investigation. "The only reason he would have it off for a long time is if he was distracted by something." She looked towards the ceiling. "And it's not like you were having sex or anything." She looked at Stephanie, who had completely gone silent. "I was joking." She stated.

Jo suddenly let in a loud gasp of air and slapped Stephanie on the arm, eyes wide. "Oh my god, you two did _it_ didn't you?" She continued to hit Stephanie as Camille and Riley looked over at their friend, waiting. "_Didn't you_?"

"Yes" Stephanie replied quietly.

"I KNEW IT!" Jo shouted, punching in the air as Camille squealed loudly and Riley and Rhuben stared at her. "I knew that you two were acting all lovey dovey even more lately." She smiled. "And this explains why. What was it like?"

"I hope you didn't regret it." Riley commented and then grunted when she was punched in the stomach by her sister. "What? I'm just saying!" She shook her head and went back to scribbling in the notebook, erasing, and scribbling.

"It was nice," Stephanie blushed even harder, not used to the attention. She smiled a little as she thought back to it and brought her knees to her chest, burying her face against her legs. "I mean, it hurt a little because it was my first time. But Carlos was sweet as always and made sure that I was comfortable."

"I hope you're in love." Riley stated bluntly again and once again grunted in pain when Rhuben punched her. "What? I was just saying that I wouldn't do it unless I'm in love. Sheesh." She rubbed her side as she glared over at her sister.

"Is he…" Camille grinned and pointed down. "Well developed?"

"Ew, I don't want to know!" Katie cried, slapping her hands over her hears. "This is _so_ gross! Can we please talk about something else?" She slowly removed her hands, making sure that the girls had stopped talking about it. She shook her head. "I'm only thirteen here."

"You're going to have to find out about it eventually, "Jo reminded her. "Unless your mom gave you the sex talk you're going to have to have sex Ed eventually." She smiled warmly. "But since you asked so nicely we'll stop talking about that. But yeah," she frowned. "James has been spending a LOT more time at the gym."

"Does it bother you?" Rhuben questioned, twirling her ponytail around her finger as she tapped her feet against the floor. "If it were me, I'd be annoyed and then eventually pissed as hell." She looked at the ceiling. "Then again, it _is_ Handsome; I don't think that he'd ever be able to pull himself away from the mirror."

"Well, he's also been worrying about his weight and what he eats too," Jo added as an afterthought. "But I doubt he's manorexic, because he eats almost as much as Carlos does." She sighed. "I like him a lot, and I really wish that he would tell me things."

"Well, just confront him about it," Riley suggested, finally putting the notebook aside and stretching out her legs. She reached over and grabbed a jar of nail polish and shook it up, looking over at Stephanie, who nodded and stretched out her hands and feet. Riley uncapped the bottle and started to paint Stephanie's nails. "James usually breaks under pressure as soon as someone confronts him about something, so you should be able to get it out of him in a matter of minutes." She looked over at Jo. "What's bothering him I mean."

"What about you?" Camille asked, turning to Rhuben, who raised her eyebrows, waiting. "Anything going on with you and Logan?"

"No, we're perfectly fine." Rhuben replied as she raised and lowered one shoulder. "No more ex-girlfriends trying to ruin anything." She added slightly bitter, thinking back to when she had broken up with Logan so he could finally get over his ex, Britt. "We're comfortable where we are, although he wants to go on more dates because the tour has kept us busy."

"That's not bad." Katie stated as she wrinkled her nose.

"I didn't say it was," Rhuben replied with a smile, causing everyone else to laugh. She reached out and poked her sister in her lower back with her big toe. "What's going on with Kendall?"

"Yeah, I want to know that myself." Katie spoke up, drawing her knees to her chest. Riley turned her head around, looking at Katie with surprised eyes. "What?"

"I thought he would have told you," Riley replied and then shook her head. "I don't know what's going on with him. He won't tell me anything." She bit her lower lip and then spoke again. "But it wouldn't surprise me if it's the same thing that's causing your mom to be upset."

"I noticed the same thing," Katie replied. "But my mom never really tells us anything that upsets her because she wants to be strong for us, you know? Since dad left and everything." She sounded a little bitter but then perked up a little. "Promise me you'll tell me what it is if you find out?" she then looked sad again. "Kendall and I, we tell each other everything, and now he won't even tell me this."

"Everything?" Stephanie laughed in reply. "You even tell him anything that you and Noah do."

"Well, not that," Katie replied and then blushed a little. "Not that Noah and I do much." She then looked over at the twins. "I don't mean to make fun of him or anything-"

"Don't worry about it," Rhuben shook her head as she waved a hand. "He's always been shy, but I don't know, with Pat and Syd around, he gets livelier. He can hold own though."

"I wish we didn't have to drag it out of him though," Riley commented. "I feel bad sometimes, 'cause even though we're all close to each other, there is times where we're closer to one person than the other. Like, me and Rhu, and me and Pat, and me and Syd, and me and Julius, and I don't know, I don't really feel that I spend too much time with Noah." She frowned. "I talk to him about it and he says that he's fine, but, I still can't help but worry if I'm not doing a good job of being and older sister."

"You sounded exactly like Kendall when you said that," Camille laughed and smiled teasingly. "I think that you guys have been spending too much time together, you're starting to sound like the exact same person."

"What?" Riley spat, lifting her head. "That's not true."

"Oh yeah," Katie replied with a snort. "You both have crappy dads."

"You both have little siblings to look after" Jo added.

"You both have an odd sports obsession" Rhuben commented as she shook her head. "I mean, there are times where the Red Sox are on, yeah?" she explained to Jo, Camille, Stephanie, and Katie. "And she will throw a temper tantrum if anyone gets anywhere near the TV or are threatening to change the channel, even if we're joking." She turned a sharp look at her sister, who smiled back sweetly.

"You both put your emotions into songs that you write." Stephanie thought and nodded.

"You both play the guitar" Camille replied after a second of thinking.

"You both like to wear beanies and other hats." Katie continued. "And skateboarding."

"You both-"

"Unbelievable," Riley muttered, slapping her forehead. "You guys are unbelievable."

"Aha!" Stephanie shouted as she pointed in her face. "You even took his catch phrase, sooner or later you're going to start yelling 'Hockey Pucks' instead of the many, many, many curse words that you sue now." She laughed as Riley picked up her pillow and threw it at her head.

Stephanie grabbed it and threw it back, starting a pillow fight. Shrieks of laughter and shouts of defense ran through the suite as they threw pillows back and forth, hitting any and every part of each other's bodies as hard as they could. They even ganged up on Jo at one time, four other pillows raining hits down upon her body as she tried to fend them off.

Katie smiled over at Riley as the pillow fight died down and they started to eat candy again while trying to decide what scary story to tell. "You two are perfect for each other, Riles," Katie replied, patting her on the knee and smiling widely. "Trust me.

"Yeah," Riley mumbled as she picked at her pile of candy. She sighed heavily as she drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "Perfect."

* * *

**A/N: Alright, this chapter was a filler as well as the last one. I just wanted to show how the girls got along. So of course it had to do with them pigging out on junk food, making fun of each other, running around the hotel, and of course, talking about boys (as well as you guys getting to know a little more about the Jacksons). Now, the next chapter is a more dramatic one. I hope you guys are up for it. Thanks for all of the reviews for the last chapter, I didn't really like it, but I'm glad all of you guys did. ^-^ Next chapter as Racy, as well as talking a little more the adults before things get too dramatic.**

**-Riley**


	14. Big Time Break Up

**Chapter Fourteen – Big Time Break Up**

**

* * *

**"Hey, why don't you take a break?" Mrs. Knight questioned Ronan as she walked over to the table that he was sitting at in the suite that she shared with Kelly and Brittany, paper spread out all around him. She handed him a mug of coffee and he took it without looking, setting it aside. "What are you doing anyway?" She questioned, sitting across from him.

"Bills," Ronan replied as he continued to look over a few papers. "I didn't think that my food bill would sky rocket so fast, but then again Patrick eats like a horse." He leaned back in his seat and rubbed his eyes. "Sorry for bringing it over, it was the only place that I could get it done in peace. That's why I had to send; actually I had to practically beg, Julius and Brittany to take the others out."

"Well, at least we're alone now." Mrs. Knight replied with a warm smile. "Kelly and Gustavo took the boys to work on some stuff and I'm sure the others are floating around the city, being bored."

"Good point." Ronan replied and leaned across the table, kissing her sweetly. "I have to be honest with you though, it's been driving me insane how little time we'd be able to spend together."

"Well, _you_ were the one that said that they wanted to keep our relationship a secret," Mrs. Knight reminded him as she pulled her red hair up into a ponytail. "So if there's anyone you want to blame then its yourself." She smiled, showing him that he was kidding.

"No shoot," Ronan replied, resting his arms on the table and then leaning forward and resting his chin on them. He didn't like to curse, at least not around his kids, so he adopted that phrase every time he wanted to, and it was now stuck with him. "Remind me next time if we ever go on a tour not to go with so many people that it drives you insane trying to make sure you know where everyone is."

"Yeah, but you know that your kids as well as Kendall, Katie, and the others are happier being on tour with each other." Mrs. Knight pointed out, taking another sip of coffee before putting her mug aside. "I mean, just think about how depressed they would be if they were going on two separate tours."

"Right, you know, 'cause their happiness has _nothing_ to do with the fact that they get to spend so much time with their 'significant other'" Ronan replied sarcastically, using air quotes around the words. "I'm sure that has nothing to do with it at all." He let out a breath of air. "I don't even really know why I'm making a big deal about it. Riley and Rhuben are happier now." He shrugged.

"You have Father-Daughter syndrome that's why," Mrs. Knight laughed in reply. She got up from her chair and walked behind Ronan and started to give him a back rub. "I made up the name,"

"Really? I wouldn't have guessed." Ronan replied and smiled when she lightly hit him on the back of the head. "Sorry. Go on."

"Pretty much what you have is the same thing that any brother, Julius, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney, and any father gets whenever their sister/daughter starts to date." Mrs. Knight pointed out. "You want to make sure that they don't get hurt and you only see them as a little girl that always needs protecting. But you know that Riley and Rhuben are different and have protected so much that it would be weird if the roles were reversed." She explained as she continued to rub Ronan's back.

"Hm," Ronan replied, his eyes closed. "I get what you mean." He opened his eyes and looked at the stacks of papers in front of him again. "Thanks for the backrub," he stated as he stood up and turned around, gently took Mrs. Knight's hands in his. "I know just how to repay you." Smiling, he moved forward and kissed her.

Not two minutes later the two of them heard the door open and Gustavo's and Kelly's voices. Mrs. Knight smiled as Ronan made a sound of annoyance under his breath.

"It's your idea." Mrs. Knight reminded him giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"No shoot," Ronan replied with a forced smile before distancing himself from Mrs. Knight and then turning to face Gustavo and Kelly, who were arguing. "Should I even bother to ask why you guys are yelling at each other this time?" He crossed his arms over his chest. "I could pretend to be Griffin and annoy you if that makes you feel better."

"The last thing that I need is a reminder about Griffin," Gustavo replied loudly.

"So what is it that's annoying you?" Mrs. Knight asked wiggling a finger in her ear to make sure her hearing wasn't damaged.

"Kelly here thinks that I'm pushing the guys too hard!" Gustavo replied, violently gesturing towards his assistant. Kelly slowly rolled her eyes towards him.

"And Gustavo doesn't believe me when it is evident that the guys are going to pass out from lack of rest." Kelly replied. "They're on a break Gustavo, getting them to keep working isn't going to help them become better. It's just going to make them even more exhausted."

"That's what _you_ think!"

"No, it's what I _know_!"

"Ok, since you guys are _obviously _not going to agree on this," Mrs. Knight interrupted, getting the two of them to fall silent. "How about we discuss this over some drinks or something." She then turned away so Kelly and Gustavo couldn't hear her. "I'm definitely going to need it so I can forget about the huge argument that's inevitably going to happen."

"You and I both," Ronan replied and cleared his throat. "Ok," he called loudly and Gustavo and Kelly finally stopped yelling at each other. "Why don't you try that exercise that Griffin made you do before, why don't you try that role playing, reverse thing." He suggested, waving his hands around.

Gustavo stared at him for a second before speaking. "You're starting to become as crazy as Griffin is, and that's saying something."

"Gee, thanks." Ronan replied, rolling his eyes. "It's better than you two, acting like a bunch of two year olds."

"He started it." Kelly replied and stuck her tongue out at Gustavo.

"I don't care _who_ started it!" Ronan snapped back, clearly ticked off. "What I want the both of you to do is to make up, and shake hand and get over it." He then looked at Gustavo sharply. "And I want _you_ to leave the guys alone for a while. It's almost Thanksgiving; they deserve a break, alright?"

"Fine," Kelly replied, holding up her hands defensively.

"You don't have to be so mean about it." Gustavo replied, frowning.

* * *

"Ugh, I'm _so_ tired!" Carlos cried, slumping over the arm of the couch that he and his friends were sitting on in the lobby.

"Carlos, you've said that twenty times in the last two hours." James groaned, running his hands through his hair and then moaning and lowering his arms again, in pain. "Would you _please_ stop? I can't take it anymore."

"So why don't you just go to the room or something?" Logan replied, equally as annoyed as James was.

"I've been trying for the past two hours," Kendall replied from where he was sitting on the other couch, his head tilted back towards the ceiling. "But Gustavo has worked us so hard I'm in too much pain to even move an inch."

"I'm bored." Carlos groaned.

"So count the ceiling tiles." Logan replied impatiently, lightly reaching out and shoving his friend on the arm. Carlos braced himself against the couch to make sure that he didn't fall over.

"I already did," he replied, looking up at the ceiling. "There are 1,450 ceiling tiles and about 35 chandeliers in this lobby," he paused for a second. "Which is ridiculous because they're wasting so much energy using so many chandeliers to light the lobby when they could just use sunlight" he added as an afterthought.

"You think that's the ridiculous part?" James questioned, flicking his hair out of his face. "I didn't even know that you could count that high." Kendall and Logan laughed as Carlos pouted, too tired to even retort. "I'm bored." He whined this time.

"Let's play a game of cards," Kendall stated as he slowly bent towards the floor and grabbed his gym bag and unzipped a side pocket, pulling out a blue deck. "We don't have to move much to be able to do that." Logan, Carlos, and James all sat up and moved around the table that was in front of the couches and grabbed the hands of cards that Kendall passed out. "Let's play a game of Poker."

"Sure, but you're going to lose." Logan smiled as he picked up his hand. "Especially since you guys don't know the meaning of counting cards."

"Hey, I know how to count cards," Carlos denied. "I have _five_ of them in my hands right now!" He stuck his tongue out at Logan. "Take that Mr. I'm-Too-Smart-For-My-Own-Good." Logan smiled as Kendall and James laughed.

The boys played game after game of Poker while complaining about how they were on a break and how they should have time off. Plus Carlos went along and explained his theory of how he thinks that Gustavo was trying to kill them so he would be able to take all of their money, resulting in a conversation about how it would be possibly to kill someone without leaving any evidence.

"I don't want to know how you know that," Kendall stated as he, James, and Carlos moved over to the far side of the table, away from him. "But I'm warning you, I'm sleeping with my eyes open tonight."

"Guys, you're going crazy over nothing," Logan replied, shaking his head. "Anybody would know how to do that if they watched as much CSI, Cold Case, and the many other ID shows." He shrugged. "There's no reason to be afraid of me."

"Right," James replied with a nod. "Just stay over there and keep your hands where we can see them.

Logan rolled his eyes.

"Hey," Riley greeted Kendall as she walked up to the guys, her mouth set in a line; she ignored James, Carlos, and Logan, who were sitting with him playing cards, as they had greeted her. When they saw how mad she looked they quietly moved their hand of cards over their faces. "I need to talk to you." Her eyes flicked over to the others and flashed a little. "Alone."

"Ok," Kendall replied, looking a little confused. He looked at the ceiling for a few seconds as he thought. "Uh, we can go to my room then."

"Uh Landy," Logan spoke up quietly and tentatively. "Maybe you should calm down a little bi-"

"Shut up, Logie!" Riley snapped back at him.

"Ok," he replied obediently and put the hand of cards back over his head. Kendall pushed back his chair and got up, shrugging towards his friends as he followed Riley to his hotel room. James waited until they were out of sight before speaking.

"What's that all about?" James questioned after a second of silence.

"I don't know," Carlos replied, his eyes wide. "But she scared me."

Once Kendall and Riley reached the hotel room, he pulled out his card key and swiped it through the slot, pushing open the door quickly. He closed it behind them and then led her over to the room that he and Logan shared.

"So it's obvious that you're mad at me about something," Kendall stated as soon as he closed the door behind Riley. He placed his hands in his pockets and rocked back and forth on his heels. "I'm not sure about what thought, you've been avoiding me like the plague for a long time and I don't know what I'm doing wrong." Riley stayed silent, her chest heaving up and down as she glared back at him. Kendall pulled his hands from his pockets and held his arms out and shrugged. "So if you could explain it to me, I'd be grateful."

"Please don't make a joke of this," Riley finally spoke, brushing her hair out of her face. She was clearly pissed off, the most angry that Kendall had ever seen her before. Her eyes were flashing and her hands were clenched into fists.

"What am I making a joke about?" Kendall questioned, running his hands over his face, leaning against the door, staring back at her. Riley took a couple of deep breaths as she reached a hand into her pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. "What's that?" He immediately recognized it as she unfolded it and read it; he saw a flash of his father's handwriting and held his breath, knowing that he was going to get yelled at for lying to her. "Where'd you get that?" he breathed, his hand flying to his back pocket. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back before looking at her.

"Does it matter where I got it?" Riley snapped back. Kendall looked at her and she rubbed her nose. "A couple of days ago when us girls were having that sleepover and you guys came back covered in tomato sauce," she paused for a second. "Which I still don't want to know how that happened, it fell out of your pocket."

"And you read it." Kendall replied, more of a statement than a question.

"Seeing your dad's name on it, I couldn't help but be a little curious," Riley replied, feeling guilty for a second. But then it went away. "So when were you going to tell me about it?" Riley questioned folding up the letter, tossing it at Kendall's face. It hit his chest and fell to the floor.

"Why didn't you say anything until now?"

"I wanted to wait and see if _you_ were going to tell me first, which obviously you weren't going to."

He tilted his head down again. "Sorry," he whispered and looked at her through the fringe that fell over his face. "I was going to tell you," he shrugged and I just didn't know how."

"Well it's a good thing you didn't or I would have said that it was a bad idea." Riley remarked and continued at Kendall's confused look. "It's not going to end well if you see your dad. You can trust me on that. It's never a good thing if he leaves for a long time and then all of a sudden shows up again."

"What?" Kendall questioned, lifting his head and looking at her sharply.

"Don't go see your dad." Riley reiterated. "It's not going to end well."

Kendall blinked once. "What the hell?" he questioned. Riley shot him a confused look and he continued. "Why would you want to ruin something for me that could possibly bring our family back together?"

"_Ruin_ it for you?" Riley repeated, her eyes flying open.

"Yeah," Kendall wiped sweat off of his forehead. He was starting to get worked up.

"If anyone is ruining anything, it's _you_!" Riley spat, looking like she wanted to kill him. "I had asked you about twenty times what has been bothering you, and you kept saying," she rolled her shoulders back, trying to imitate Kendall's stance. She lowered her voice a little. "'It's nothing, Ruby.' 'I'm fine.' 'Don't worry about me.'" She snorted and went back to her normal pitch. "You know that I can't help but worry about other people. But the worst part was that you _lied_ to me, to my face, every time I asked you."

"Ok, I admit that was a bad idea," Kendall shot back quickly. "But," he licked his lips and looked away. "I mean, this is the first time that my mom, dad, sister, and I can all be a family again. Something that I've wanted so badly for a long time and you're trying to talk me out of it." He crossed the room and grabbed onto her shoulders. "Why? Why would you do that?"

"I'm not trying to ruin anything, Kendall." Riley shoved his hands off of her shoulders, silently warning him not to touch her. "I'm not having this whole conversation to tell you how much I'm trying to break apart your family. Get over yourself!" She set her jaw and looked away from him. "If that's what you think I'm doing then you obviously don't know me very well."

"I do know you," Kendall insisted, not sure what that had anything to do with the conversation. "I know you so well it's not even funny."

"Oh yeah?" Riley angrily shoved her hair out of her face. "You think you know me?" She glared. "If you know me so well, did you know that whenever I'm in emotional or physical pain I clench my hands into fists? Did you know that when I first met you guys I had a _huge _crush on James but didn't want to do anything about it because I was too afraid? Then I saw how Jo felt about him and backed off." Her eyes narrowed even further. "Did you know that the first time that I met WayneWayne I had a crush on him too? Did you know that the only reason that I keep to myself is because I don't like it when I'm vulnerable to others? There's so many things that you don't know about me so don't pretend that you do."

"So what if you had a crush on James or WayneWayne?" Kendall demanded, getting hysterical, his voice cracking horribly. "So what? I don't care! All I knew is that when I first met you, I thought you were a different kind of girl, not like all the others ones that practically throw themselves at anything that moves. I liked that you spoke your mind and that you cared about others." He looked down at the letter that was in between them. "And right now that's beginning to be a total drag." He looked up at her again and licked his lips.

"I'm sorry I lied to you, but I didn't really have a choice." He whispered.

"You didn't have a choice?" Riley repeated, raising an eyebrow. She actually started laughing, which just caused Kendall to become even angrier.

"No!" Kendall snapped. "I didn't have a choice. Because I knew that you going to go waving around that and acting like you knew everything that was going to happen with my dad." He clenched his hands into fists. "You don't know _everything_."

Riley held her breath as she counted backwards from ten, to calm herself down. She let out a huff of air; her shoulders holding so much tension that they were practically at her ears. When she finished letting out her breath, her shoulders fell, but her hands were still clenched into fists. "Listen, just because I know what it's like to have a dad that's a jerk-"

"Would you stop turning everything back to _you_?" Kendall cried emotionally. "Every time we talk seriously it's always 'my dad hit me' or 'my dad's a jerk' or 'I can't trust people because of my dad'. I get it ok? I get it! Your dad was a jerk! But he's not _here_ anymore. _He's in fucking jail!_ Not everything is about you. Newsflash, the world doesn't revolve around you, stop acting like it!" He grinded his teeth back and forth. "So why don't we talk about what's really bothering you."

"What do you mean?" Riley suddenly felt tired, rubbing the back of her neck.

"This, letter, couldn't have been the only reason that you're mad at me," Kendall replied. "I know that lying to you was probably the dumbest thing I could have ever done," he moved away from her and walked over to the window, looking out of it before turning back to her. "So why don't you explain to me why you've been avoiding me." He looked her in the eye. "Because that hurts more than you screaming at me." Silence. "You don't let me kiss you anymore, and every time I want to hang out with you or spend some time alone with you, you freak out. It's not like I'm going to hit you or anything." He shook his head. "So just tell me what's up"

Riley looked taken aback, and then her cheeks flushed. She turned and mumbled something under her breath, rubbing the back of her neck. Kendall sat there for a few seconds, waiting for her to speak; finally she muttered something under her breath that Kendall strained to hear. He asked her what she said and she lifted her head to reply.

"I said that you're suffocating me," she replied heatedly. "It's like, I can't go anywhere without you having to be around. The girls and I were talking at our sleepover recently and they were saying all these things about how we're like, exactly the same person, and then you went and said that we're soul mates and everything and it freaked me out."

"Do you," Kendall hesitated. "Do you not think that we're soul mates?" Riley pulled her hair behind her ears. "Do you love me?" he asked and sat down on the window frame. He took a breath as Riley continued to stay quiet, looking down at her feet. "I want you to answer honestly."

"I don't believe in love," Riley muttered in reply. "Not really. I don't believe that anyone can truly be in love with someone just because I don't really know what love is."

"Well that doesn't surprise me," Kendall laughed a little. "It would explain why you lead me on for so long. You know, I actually thought that I could change you, that I could help you realize that not everybody in the world is out to make you miserable, but I guess I was wrong." He scratched his forehead. All of a sudden he was angry again. "I never said this out loud but I often wondered what caused you to get abused so badly, but now I realize that sometimes you deserved it!"

There was a stunned silence between the two of them. Neither of them could believe that Kendall had just said that, let alone yelled it at her. But there was something else that the two of them had in common, they were too proud to admit when they were wrong about something, and they were both wrong when it came to this argument. He didn't mean it at all, it just popped out, and he knew that he couldn't take it back.

Riley saw red and said the first thing that popped into her head.

And like Kendall she didn't mean it what so ever.

"You know what," she raised her hands to her hair and then slapped them down to her side. "You're the worst boyfriend ever." She took a breath. "You're such a hoon...such a..." She smirked when she found what she wanted to say. "Big Time Loser!"

Kendall glared back at her. "And you're a Big Time Bitch!" Riley glared fiercely and turned on her heel to leave, but not before ripping off the necklace that he had given her for her birthday and throwing it at him. "You're a heartless bitch that doesn't care about anyone but yourself!" he hurled after her. He watched as she stopped abruptly, listening. "Go ahead and run! Run away like you always do when you're scared!" As he watched, Riley slowly shook her head and continued walking.

Kendall turned and punched the wall next to him before cursing loudly and shaking off his hand.

* * *

The loud sound of the hotel door slamming shut alerted Ronan that something was wrong with whoever had just come into the suite. He looked around the small kitchen area and quickly counted; using the process of elimination to tell that it was Riley who wasn't there. Everyone else was helping him make dinner; he hadn't even noticed when she slipped out earlier.

"What's wrong?" Julius called as she started to walk by the kitchen.

"What makes you think that something's wrong?" she questioned sharply as she stopped walking.

"Because you slammed the door hard enough that I'm sure it's going to fall off its hinges the next time someone touches it." Ronan replied, motioning to the door. He peered at his daughter. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Riley replied with a slight growl. "I'm fine!" She ignored the look that Patrick and Noah gave each other. Ronan didn't believe her for a second, as she generally told him the truth the first time he asked her something. "Hey guys," she got her siblings' attention. "You know that song that we've been working on the past couple of days?"

"Yeah," Patrick asked, taking the chance that no one was watching him and grabbing a deviled egg, shoving it into his mouth. "What of it?" he asked with his mouth full. Sydney reached out and slapped him on the arm.

"Rip it up." Riley instructed and started to walk away. "It's not worth it."

"Whoa," Rhuben held up her hands, looking at her sister as if she was crazy. "It's a great song, sure there are a few things we have to tune here and there, but it's still great." She placed her hands on her hips. "Why would you want to rip it up?"

"Because it's pure crap, that's why!" Riley snapped back, whirling back around, her hair hitting her in the face.

"_Excuse me_." Rhuben muttered under her breath with a hint of attitude. She had a feeling what was wrong, but didn't want to guess just yet. She glanced down and noticed that Riley's hands were in fists and she raised an eyebrow, noticing the familiar gesture.

"Riles," Ronan stated slowly, taking off the gloves that he was wearing and folded his arms across his chest. "This attitude that you have has got to stop."

"What's really going on, Rilandon?" Julius questioned firmly.

"Nothing!" Riley repeated, now in complete annoyance. "I'm _fine_!" She made a huffing sound and turned on her heel to walk to hers and Rhuben's room. Halfway there, she suddenly stopped walking and crouched towards the ground, her arms around her stomach.

Sydney frowned and wiggled down from the counter that he was sitting on and hurried over to his oldest sister. He brushed her hair out of her face and looked sad himself when he noticed that tears were falling down her cheeks. Using his small hands, he brushed the tears away from her cheeks.

"Ri-Ri, why are you crying?" he asked, immediately causing Rhuben, Patrick, and Noah to hurry over to the three of them and crouch around too. Julius rubbed his hands over his face and Ronan just stood back quietly.

"Kendall and I got into a fight," Riley managed to say through her tears. "We broke up." She sniffed loudly. Ronan let out a groan and ran a hand over his face warily. "Usually I wouldn't care if I broke up with someone, but I didn't mean anything of what I said to him."

"Does he know that?" Noah asked gently. "If not, you could always go back and apologize." He grabbed her hand and gently patted it with his own.

"I can't do that, he's way too mad at me." Riley replied, shaking her head.

"Besides, we all know that Riley would rather chew off her own arm than apologize to anyone besides us and Logan." Patrick added, earning another slap on the arm from Sydney. "Those hurt you know."

"That's the idea." Sydney shot back.

"Well, what did you fight about?" Rhuben questioned, slightly confused.

"I found a letter that his dad had sent him, asking if they could meet up." Riley replied as a fresh wave of tears rolled down her cheeks. "I confronted him about it because I knew that something had been bothering him for a while and he wouldn't tell me, and we got into an argument about it." She gave a hint of a smile. "I called him a loser and he called me a bitch."

"Well then it's obvious that he doesn't deserve you," Patrick replied as blunt and loyal as always. "Because you're not a bitch."

"I know that," Riley replied. "But it doesn't matter anymore; he said it and he can never take it back. But do you want to know the worst part?" she didn't wait for an answer. "I told him that I didn't believe in love, but I think I actually do love him."

Ronan stood silently back in the kitchen, watching as they sat huddled on the ground, comforting their older sister. He knew eventually that everything that she had been holding back would come out eventually, but he didn't think that it would cause something this bad to make it finally happen.

"Whoah, Riley Jackson capable of loving someone else?" Patrick questioned and was met with a wave of glares. "Sorry," he mumbled. "I was trying to make you laugh."

Patrick sighed and rested his chin in his hands as he continued to gaze at his oldest sister, the one that always put him and his brothers and Rhuben before herself, the one that refused any help of any kind, the one that had a short-temper but was the only one that could turn it around and make it endearing. He hated to see her this way, especially since he and his family were probably the only people in the world that knew that Riley's confidence levels were just as high as her insecurity levels. She is an extremely sensitive person, but you wouldn't know that because she always puts on a tough façade. Sometimes he wished that she would show the side that he knew, a teenage girl that acted crazy and random at times to everyone else. That way she wouldn't always be hiding everything.

"Thanks for trying." Riley mumbled miserably.

* * *

**A/N: Here's the next chapter for you guys. It was hard for me to write, but I had to put it in here. So I hope you don't have it too much. Thanks to those that reviewed the last chapter, it means a lot. I hope you review this chapter as well. I'll update again soon.**

**-Riley**


	15. Big Time Thanksgiving

**Chapter Fifteen – Big Time Thanksgiving**

**

* * *

**"Go fish" Patrick stated as he looked at his hand of cards, bracing himself against the window as the bus rattled over a pot hole, sending everything that wasn't tied down to go flying. He waited for a response, and then looked up to see WayneWayne, Carlos, and Logan staring back at him. "What?"

"Pat, we're playing Poker, not Go Fish." WayneWayne replied as calmly as possible.

"Really?" Patrick looked genuinely confused. "So how have I been winning the past three hands?"

"That's exactly what I was wondering." Logan replied and tossed his hand of cards to the table as he laughed and ran his hands through his hair. "Then again, if that strategy works for you then I may want to try it myself." He grinned.

"No way," Patrick replied as he pointed his hand of cards towards Logan. "If this works, I'm going to get it copyrighted."

"Let's play another round." Carlos stated as he grabbed their cards and started to shuffle them along with the deck again. Patrick, WayneWayne, and Logan watched as Carlos randomly started to shove cards into different spots that they would fit in the deck. His hands moved faster and faster until finally the cards went flying into the air. "Or we could play 52 pick up?"

"Carlos, just pick up the cards" Logan smacked his friend on the back of the head, causing WayneWayne to laugh as he watched Carlos just grin in reply and start to pick up the cards.

Over the last few months that he had known them he definitely went from their enemy to their friend, but of course there were still times where WayneWayne worried whether or not he was really their friend at all. So far all he seemed to do was just talk to a few of them while hanging out with Camille, and sure the Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and James included him in on a few things sometimes, but he still wondered if they considered him friends the same way that he considered them. It was an odd thought at first, because all he wanted was to get into Big Time Rush so badly that he didn't care how much he had hurt the group. But seeing it all crash and burn in his face he realized how much of a jerk that he had been.

"So, what's there to check out in Minnesota?" WayneWayne asked, trying to strike up a conversation as he glanced out the window.

"People getting sick because of the cold." Patrick replied simply.

"Ok, just because you guys don't like the cold, nor have you lived in a cold state," Carlos stopped picking up the cards and gave Patrick the stink-eye. "But don't be dissing my hometown."

"Ooh, did I strike a nerve there?"

"Ignoring the two idiots over there," Logan spoke up as he turned back to WayneWayne. "There are a lot of places to go to play hockey, and having snowball fights, and going to the lake is cool." He shrugged. "There's a lot of stuff that we do to have fun there. Hockey being the main thing, but there's a lot to do."

"Yeah, like freezing to death." Patrick added, not stopping while he was behind.

"Pat, you know what I said earlier about you opening your mouth and stupid comes out," Rhuben stated as she and Riley walked over to the guys, letting out curses as they bumped into the sides of the bus as it continued to roll over the uneven surface of the road. She waited as Patrick nodded. "Yeah, you're still doing it."

"Zing!" Riley added as she punched the air.

"Do you guys always-"

"Insult each other?" Riley, Rhuben, and Patrick commented in unison. "Yeah."

"But, it's just the way that we show each other we care." Riley replied with an over the top smile and double thumbs up. She paused and dropped her arms. "Wow, that was _really_ corny."

"Yeah, I just wasn't going to say anything." WayneWayne smirked back as he took the deck of cards from Carlos who had started to shuffle them again. "How about I shuffle them?" he suggested and made sure that Carlos wasn't in reach of the cards just in case they had to shuffle them again. Carlos just smiled in reply.

"Oh yeah that reminds me," Riley shoved her hand into the back pocket of her jeans and held out a little slip of paper. "About this coupon thing, how do you-"She let out a squeak of pain as Carlos jumped up and wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug. "Carlitos, need air, only thing that keeps me alive." She gasped.

"Sorry," Carlos put her back down. "But you just redeemed your Carlos coupon, thank you." He plucked the slip of paper out of her hand and shoved it into his pants pocket. "So did that make you feel better?"

"Feel better from what?" Riley questioned irritably, lightly massaging her ribs.

"Well, feel better from breaking up with Kendall." Carlos replied, completely missing the shushes that Logan, WayneWayne, and Rhuben threw his way. "What?" he asked, eyes wide with innocence as he looked back and forth from everyone. "What did I say?"

"Oh you don't need to worry about that," Riley forced a laugh and examined her nails. "It's been three days, I'm fine."

"Riles, you always deny that anything is wrong whenever you're mad that a guy has done something to hurt you," Patrick pointing out, bending a card that was in his hand. "So you might as well just admit it, you're among friends."

"No, what I do is plan any sort of illegal revenge that I possibly can get away with _without _getting caught by the police," Riley contradicted and smiled evilly. "Lucky for them, those ideas never panned out." She straightened up, feeling the skeptical looks on everyone's faces. "Seriously guys, I'm perfectly fine."

"Whatever," Rhuben scratched her forehead. "Just know that I'm on your side and on Kendall's side, you're my twin, but Kendall is still my friend."

"I didn't think it any different," Riley admitted, her eyebrow twitching.

"HEY, WE'RE HERE!" James' excited voice came from downstairs along with the accompanying sound of the bus screeching to a halt, and some other things go falling to the ground. "GUYS, WE'RE HERE, WE'RE HERE, WE'RE HERE!"

"Did you and James switch brains or something?" Rhuben asked Carlos.

"That'd be cool," Carlos' eyes lit up. "Then I could be 'the face'." He struck a pose, pursing his lips.

"Don't quit your day job." Patrick replied simply. He yawned loudly. "I'm just glad that we get to sleep in as much as we while your parents wake up early cook everything for Thanksgiving."

"Hear Hear" Logan replied as if he was toasting him and then yawned loudly as well.

* * *

The next day after collecting the Jacksons, Brittany, Ronan, Gustavo, Kelly, Jo, Camille, and Stephanie from the hotel(WayneWayne was going to stay over at James' house), they headed over to the Knight's house to get everything ready for Thanksgiving. The Garcias, Diamonds, and Mitchells had gone over to the house to cook everything, but then Sydney suggested that the kids cook the dinner so the adults could take a break.

Patrick immediately shot down the idea, knowing that no one but Riley or Carlos could cook that well and that all anybody would do was just burn stuff. But then after getting some of the other girls in on the idea everyone else was pretty much forced to help as well. So when Riley sent the guys out to get some food as she, her brothers and sister (minus Julius) Jo, Camille, Stephanie, and Katie got to work on everything else. They worked all day on the food and was grateful when the guys got back, noses and cheeks red and complaining about other shoppers as they brought the food into the kitchen before leaving to take a well deserved break in the living room.

Riley stood in the kitchen, hands on her hips, staring at the huge pile of groceries that would soon become Thanksgiving dinner. After accessing all of the food on the counter, Riley marched into the living room and stood before the rest of the group like a general in the army.

"Okay!" she practically shouted a vein already twitching in her forehead, "We're missing something very important." She paused. "Well, I mean you guys are because we," she motioned to herself and her siblings. "Generally don't celebrate Thanksgiving."

"What would that be?" Logan asked in a high-pitched voice, going over the list of groceries Riley had given him before they left. His eyes scanned the list rapidly. "I got everything on the list you gave me!"

Rhuben plucked the scrap of paper out of Logan's hands and scanned over all of the crossed off food items until she found what she was looking for. "Really, Logie?"

"Really," he promised. Kendall, James, Carlos, and WayneWayne nodded in reply

Rhuben then held the paper in front of his face and pointed to the very bottom of the list, where one word remained uncrossed.

Staring at them in big, bold letters was the word **'T****urkey****'**.

Carlos' eyes widened. "How could we possibly forget to get a Turkey?" he screeched, grabbing on his hair.

"Yeah, how could you possibly forget to get a Turkey?" Jo repeated, starting to get panicky herself. "How can we have Thanksgiving without a Turkey?"

"Very carefully?" James asked timidly.

"Good luck finding a good turkey at the store on Thanksgiving Day!" Katie commented, crossing her arms over her chest as she shook her head.

"Hey, we don't have to go to the store to get a turkey!" WayneWayne suddenly declared, standing up from his seat as if he had just gotten a brilliant idea.

"We don't?" Camille asked her boyfriend skeptically.

"Of course not!" Kendall replied, snapping his fingers as he thought of something. "Remember when we were in Rocque Records when Gustavo had that skunk problem?" he asked Logan, James, and Carlos, who nodded. "We can go hunting for one!"

"Hunting?" Katie questioned, obviously not amused. "You bozos?"

"Why not?" James agreed. "My dad has all the hunting gear, and I'm sure he'll let us borrow his equipment!"

"Am I the only one that realizes that this is probably the stupidest thing that could possibly happen?" Riley asked as she rubbed her forehead. Sydney giggled into her palm at the comment. Riley purposely ignored the hurt look that Kendall tossed her way and everyone else immediately felt the tension in the room rise.

"There are a few major flaws in your plan," Stephanie spoke up, listing each thing on his fingers. "One: None of us have ever used a gun, two: None of us know how to hunt, and three: None of use own hunting licenses."

"We can pull it off!" Carlos, ever the optimist, argued.

"Okay, look," Riley said, holding up her hands to stop the bickering. "If you really think you can catch us a turkey, then go do it." She paused for a moment as she thought about it. "Either way, _I'm_ not the one that's going to be in trouble for this."

"You do know that Julius and Ronan are going to somehow lay all the blame on you, right." Noah spoke up as he turned to his oldest sister.

"Yes I do, and that's why I'm going to deny it completely."

"All right!" Carlos cried excitedly, jumping up. "Everybody of the XY chromosomes come with me!"

"Be careful," Jo warned. "A lot of accidents happen on the holidays, and the ER gets pretty full. Just don't shoot yourselves." Logan quickly turned around and went into the kitchen before coming back with a First Aid kit in his hands.

"We'll be fine," Kendall put in as the guys all headed for the door. After a moment's thought, he added, "Hopefully," and left with the rest of the guys

"Am I the only one that really thinks that this is going to be a _very_ bad idea?" Katie asked, turning to the girls again. Camille snorted.

"Did you see the look on Wally's face when they left?" she questioned and shook her head. "We're not the only ones that are worried."

The girls then went back to work in the kitchen and it was a few hours later (by now it was Five o'clock and Gustavo had complained a lot about being hungry) when the guys came back, even more irritated than before and holding a frozen Turkey.

"What happened to hunting one?" Katie asked smugly as she watched the guys troop into the kitchen.

"Well," Kendall sighed as he took off his hat and scarf. "After almost getting shot by each other about twenty times, we realized that it wasn't the best idea to try and hunt one, so what we went to _every _grocery store in the district until we found this Turkey." He sighed as WayneWayne dropped it onto the counter. "I just hope that this will cause Gustavo to stop complaining. He's been yelling at us since we pulled into the driveway."

"He was standing _in_ the driveway." Sydney corrected him. "And I don't blame him, I'm hungry too." He frowned pitifully as his stomach growled.

"C'mon Syd, I'll show you where my secret stash of candy is." Katie stated as she took his head and lead him out of the kitchen.

"Alright, just give it to me and I'll get this stupid dinner over with." Riley stated and held out her arms for the Turkey. WayneWayne gave it to her and she walked over to the sink and turned on the hot water to quickly thaw it before tossing the frozen bird into the empty sink. Everyone else cleared out of the kitchen, but Kendall hesitated for a minute.

"Uh, my mom wants to thank you for doing this for her." Kendall stated quietly. Riley kept her back to him. "Giving her a break and all."

"Uh-huh" she replied shortly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"It's really a nice thing to do," he continued and then rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "You didn't have to. Well, you usually do a lot of things you don't have to for other people." He laughed nervously.

"Yep." Riley turned from the sink and looked at him with raised eyebrows, her face voice of any emotions. "Anything else?"

"No," Kendall shook his head and headed out of the room.

Riley sighed and twisted her mouth to the side before going back to work.

* * *

After finishing dinner which Gustavo said was really good considering the fact that it was made by people who mostly didn't know how to cook, everyone said what they were thankful for. Most of the comments were that they were happy for the friends that they had and for the life that they now had, and others were really heartfelt ones, like from Kelly, who said that she enjoyed spending time with the people she now considered her family to short uncomfortable ones, like Gustavo who said that he was thankful for eating (no matter how long it took) and that the guys were making him even more popular than he was before. Everyone knew what he was trying to say and didn't push him to say anything more.

James then said that he was going to go to the gym, to work off some of the food that they had pigged out on during dinner, and Riley, Rhuben, and WayneWayne decided that they would go with him. What James didn't know was that the three of them were going to try and talk to James about his gym obsession while they were there.

Rhuben drove them to the gym, albeit she was going pretty slow, due to the fact that she wasn't used to driving over the ice and snow, and when they had arrived at the gym, James went inside like a man on a mission and immediately started on the regime that he usually had while at the gym. WayneWayne, Riley, and Rhuben spread out to different machines and started to work on their own.

"So how are things going with you and Camille?" Rhuben questioned WayneWayne as she held her hands a few inches away from the barbell that he was bench pressing. WayneWayne let out a gasp of air and sucked in another breath, pushing the barbell away from his chest before replying.

"You're the girl, wouldn't you know?" WayneWayne questioned, focusing on the ceiling so he wouldn't focus on the pain in his muscles. "I mean, isn't that what you girls do?" he smiled a little. "Talk about guys all day."

"No," Rhuben shook her head and smirked back. "We also take breaks to eat and go to the bathroom." she replied sarcastically.

"Things are going fine, I guess." WayneWayne replied with a slight shake of his head. "I mean, I don't want to ruin anything because we were friends first."

"I know the feeling, trust me." Rhuben reassured him.

"You do," WayneWayne agreed. "But not exactly. You and Logan were friends since you were kids; I've known Camille since I was twelve, thirteen, so really, not that long. There's a lot of things that I don't know about her and I don't want to offend her without even knowing it."

"I get your point." Rhuben replied and lifted the barbell back onto its holders as WayneWayne sat up and wiped sweat off of his forehead. "Don't sweat it, dude. The only one that can really put his foot in his mouth without meaning to is Carlos. I don't think anyone else has that problem."

"James! Knock it off!"

Rhuben and WayneWayne both turned around to see Riley standing by James, who was running on the treadmill as fast as he could. You wouldn't think that anything was wrong until you noticed that Riley had a panicky look on her face and was frantically trying to move her hands onto the control panel of the treadmill, but James was moving her hands away.

"What's wrong?" WayneWayne questioned as he and Rhuben hurried over. He glanced at the treadmill and his eyes widened when he saw that James had been running for over two hours (about as long as they had been there) and on the highest level that you could go. "Dude," he reached for James' arm. "You have to get off."

"No!" James replied, pulling his arms out of their grasp. He was breathing heavily, sweat was pouring down his red face. His feet made a rhythmic sound as they moved rapidly over the belt. "I'm not done."

"Yes you are," Rhuben stated, shaking her head. "I know what you're doing, James. You're just going to cause irreversible damage on your body if you keep this up."

"You're going to hurt yourself, either physically or mentally, it's not going to matter," Riley slowly moved her hand towards the treadmill, making sure he didn't see her.

"No, I can't stop yet." James seemed to be getting tired. "I have to keep going. I'm not done. I have to be perfect."

"Perfect? Perfect how?" WayneWayne questioned, holding up a hand when Riley and Rhuben looked at him with different degrees of a glare. He knew what he was doing. He was going to keep James talking to get some answers out of him before they had to resort to a harsh intervention.

"I have to be perfect all around, I have to stay handsome." James replied. "You don't understand." He shook his head and lost his balance for a second before quickly regaining it. "I have to have the perfect body and the package completely."

Riley reached out and jabbed the 'STOP' button. James let out a choking cry as he felt the conveyor belt slow down. When it stopped, he fell to his knees, holding onto the sides of the treadmill, gasping for air.

"James, what's going on with you, buddy?" WayneWayne questioned, placing a hand on his back.

"I have to be perfect," James whispered. "For the fans."

"So _that's_ what's been bothering you," Rhuben commented as she shook her head, placing her hands on her hips. "Wow, when you guys get problems they really do come in fours." She moved James into a sitting position and sat down beside him. Riley sat down on his other side and WayneWayne sat down in front of the three of them. "Carlos has low self-esteem because the fans don't like him as much and you're so confident that the fans like you so much that you feel that you have to be perfect. James, that's not a good thing."

"But I want to keep my fans happy," James muttered, rubbing his forehead. "I'm the face, I always have to be the face."

"James, you're always going to be the face," WayneWayne used air quotes around the word as he gave Riley and Rhuben an odd look. They waved a hand back at him, telling him not to even ask about it. "But you shouldn't be trying to make your fans happy first, you need to try and make yourself happy. You're your number 1 priority."

"But they're my…our _fans_ man," James lifted his head and looked at WayneWayne with so much contempt for himself that he was actually shocked. "Our fans are everything to us."

"Jamesie, let me ask you something," Riley gently patted his arm. "How do you think that we, our brothers and Rhubes and I, keep our fans happy?"

"By giving away a lot of free stuff?" James guessed, finally regaining his breath.

"Well, there's that," Rhuben nodded, looking thoughtful. "Although that may be hurting our sales," she added to herself, rubbing her chin. Then she shook her head and turned back to James. "The way that we make our fans happy is by caring about ourselves. We cared about yourself, and with your guys' help, we got rid of our dad and that caused some fans that were having the same problems we were having to get rid of their jerky parents as well."

"And," Riley brought his attention back to her. "We also take care of ourselves. How do you think our fans would react if we started to smoke or drink or something, your constant going to the gym isn't an y better, because it's just going to, possibly, lead you to a life of worrying about body image as well as getting into anorexia or bulimia."

"And trust me on this, it's not fun." Rhuben added.

"Plus that will just cause some of your fans, the younger ones, to think that starving yourself or going to the gym as much as possible in a day is something that you should do to be perfect or to be considered attractive." WayneWayne added and shook his head. "I mean, the world is already shoving bad things on us with the media, we don't need this as well." He smirked as he reached out and lightly hit James on the leg. "Besides, it will actually work against you, the more muscles mass you gain, the worse your posture is going to get, you won't be able to put your arms down, you-"

"I get the point." James interrupted.

"You don't have to go to the gym every day," Riley stated. "Just every now and then, you're already extremely fit from all of the dancing that you have to do just to be in Big Time Rush."

"Besides, if Gustavo thought that you weren't fit enough, he would have cut you out months ago." Rhuben added. James finally smiled.

"My money would have been on Logan." He commented, causing the other three to laugh. "Thanks guys, that was really helpful." He grinned. "You're, like, the best friends ever."

"What are friends for?" WayneWayne replied with a smile of his own. James had said it right then, he considered WayneWayne one of his friends, he didn't have to worry about it anymore.

"To borrow money whenever we need it even though the person knows that we won't give it back." Riley stated after a second of thinking. WayneWayne laughed again.

"Exactly." Rhuben replied with a nod. She then put her arm around James's shoulders. "You helped us with our problems when it came to our dad, now we're going to help you the best we can, Handsome."

"You guys are awesome." James replied as he wrapped his arms around Rhuben's and Riley's waists, giving them tight hugs.

"You too, Jamesie." Riley added. She looked over at WayneWayne as he not-so-secretly cleared his throat loudly. She rolled her eyes. "You too, Dubs."

"Dubs?" Rhuben, James, and WayneWayne repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"It was the first nickname that I could think of on such short notice," Riley stated, sounding offended. "I mean, I had to choose between Wally, which doesn't sound right for you, or WayneWayne, which is too long to say. So I just went with that."

"Good to know." WayneWayne replied and turned to James. "You _do_ know that you're going to have to tell Jo about this? She's been getting really upset with you lately."

"Yeah, I know," James stated as he pulled at his laces. "And I'm kind of afraid to do that, because she can get even worse than you," he shot his eyes over to Riley, who looked offended. "But I did realize that she had been getting up set with me. There's just one problem with that."

"James, I'm sure that she's going to forgive you," Rhuben commented rolling her eyes. "She likes you too much to not forgive you."

"No, not that," James stated and held a hand over his mouth as the other moved to his stomach. "I think I'm going to be sick, I worked too hard too fast!" He got up and hurried to the bathroom.

* * *

**A/N: And here's a chapter that has drama, angst, humor, and lots of friendship in it. (I wasn't sure how to end it, but I hope it was okay). Don't Stop Believing and this story are what is the basis of the trilogy, it shows that with your friends around you can get help with anything. James' problem has been faced in this chapter, it's not completely done with yet, Carlos' has been faced, his isn't completely done with either, and Kendall's still has a bit to go. Logan though is having trouble trying to show his best friends (his brothers) that things can only get better when your friends are there to help you. I'm a firm believer in that kind of thing so that's why my trilogy is based on friendship more than romance. **

**Anyway, I hope you guys liked this chapter. There's a few more, then chapter 20 has to do with them on Christmas and then they're off to Australia during New Year's for the rest of the tour as well as Brittany and Julius' wedding. I wonder what's in store for everyone (more drama of course).  
**

**Next chapter is a more humorous one, like a completely humorous one, what happens when Julius and Brittany are trying to get some things for their wedding done? Hmmm**

**I know that for Halloween and Thanksgiving I didn't show a lot with the holidays, but that was done on purpose. Christmas and New Years are the ones that are going to have the more focus on them and what they holidays are about.**

**What would you guys like to see in this story? Let me know and I'll try to put it in here. Any suggestions? Concerns? Did I make anything confusing? Let me know.**

**-Riley**


	16. Big Time Confrontation

**Chapter Sixteen – Big Time Confrontation**

**

* * *

**"Alright guys, we need to talk about what's going to happen at our wedding." Julius stated as he looked at his notepad and then over at his brothers and sisters, who were sitting on the couch in front of him in their hotel room.

The Jacksons were letting the boys hang out with their families for the day so Ronan, Julius, and Brittany took the chance to get Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney (to sit still for once) on the couch so they could talk to them and explain everything that was going to go on for the wedding.

"First thing that we need to decide on is who is going to be my bride's maid." Brittany stated as she clasped her hands together and smiled brightly. "Now I have a few choices with Riley, Rhuben, and my friends."

"Can I be the bride's maid?" Riley asked, raising her hand into the air and waving it around.

"Wait, why do _you_ get to be the bride's maid?" Rhuben demanded, turning her head to look at her sister, eyebrows raised. "Why not me?"

"Because I'm older than you," Riley replied as if that solved everything.

"By five minutes," Rhuben stated as she rolled her eyes, throwing her hands up into the air. "What does that have to do with anything? And why are you _always_ throwing that into my face?" She and her sister then turned to each other and started to argue while gesturing wildly.

Brittany looked over at Julius, whose eyebrow twitched and then looked over at Ronan. Ronan just smiled back at him and crossed his arms over his chest, moving his hands into his arm pits as he leaned back in his chair, smiling widely. Julius's shoulders slumped and he looked at his adoptive father with narrowed eyes and a frown before moving over to his sisters and grabbing the tops of their heads and moving them back to face him.

"Monster, Munchkin, knock it off!" He commanded and moved back to where he was standing before. "Besides, Britt is the one that's making the choice and she had the right to choose Amanda or Kelsey or whoever she wants, so don't argue about it."

"Obviously you don't know us if you don't know that they would argue about it." Sydney pointed out where he was sitting, sandwiched in-between Patrick and Noah. Unfortunately he was caught in their fight for elbow space and it had resulted in him sitting in between them to get them to stop. "We are very argumentative people."

"I've noticed." Julius commented dryly, rubbing his forehead where a vein started to throb. "Anyway, now that we have that settled, let's move on to talking about Best Men." He braced himself, waiting for the reaction that he was going to get. "I already have an idea for who the best men are going to be, but I don't think it's going to be one of you guys." He stated, motioning over to Patrick, Noah, and Sydney.

Sydney looked offended, but Patrick and Noah looked like they didn't care.

"Well, as long as we're in your part of the bridal party its fine," Noah replied with a shrug.

"Besides," Patrick spoke up. "Who would want to be the one that has to handle the rings and make sure that everything runs smoothly when you're the one that can't see the bride before the wedding anyway?" He shrugged. "I mean, they have to make sure all the guests are there, that he has a speech prepared for the reception, that the bride isn't going to skip out on the groom-" Sydney elbowed Patrick in the side, causing him to shut up.

"Are you _trying_ to keep us from getting married?" Brittany laughed, sensing how annoyed that Julius was getting.

"No, but these just things that he needs to think about." Patrick replied, looking innocent, although he had a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "I mean, we wouldn't want him to be getting cold feet now do we?"

"Can it, Madden." Julius stated, nearly poking him in the eye.

"I've been meaning to ask," Ronan uncrossed his arms and looked at Julius calmly, wanting to avert his frustration. He could tell that the others were trying to annoy him on purpose and something that a lot of people didn't know was that even though Riley showed her temper really easily, all of them could have a bad temper and times and he knew that Julius was going to unleash it soon. "What are with the 'M' nicknames?"

"I've been wondering the same thing, babe." Brittany stated as she rested a hand on Julius' forearm, also trying to get him to calm down.

"Oh, uh, well my mom and dad called me Monkey all the time before they were born," Julius seemed to forget why he was annoyed (if only for a moment.) "Then when Riley and Rhuben were born I knew that the name Monster was good for Riley and that's pretty self-explanatory, Munchkin is for Rhuben because back then she was always shorter than me and hated it, then Patrick is Madden because he can be so annoying it can make you mad," he smiled over at his brother. "But it can also be funny and it's a good trait for him, to get people to laugh." Patrick beamed.

"Careful, you don't want his head to swell any bigger than it already is." Noah commented calmly, shifting himself on the couch so he could stretch his legs over Riley and Rhuben's laps. "Don't tickle me." He warned.

"I wouldn't dream of it." Rhuben replied as innocently as she could.

"Then Noah is Maestro because of his love for music and everything and Sydney, as self-explanatory as this is, is Midget." Julius concluded.

"Which I _still_ think if insulting," Sydney stated, raising his eyebrows. "You're basically calling me a funny looking person." He huffed as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not funny looking, I'm cute!"

"Speaking of which," Brittany jumped back into the conversation. "How would you feel if we made you the ring bearer at our wedding?"

Sydney scratched his forehead as if trying to think of an answer. Then he looked apologetic as he shrugged. "Do I have to?" he questioned.

"You don't want to?" Julius and Ronan chorused, looking shocked.

"Well the only reason that I can think of them wanting me to do it is because I'm cute." Sydney stated with a shrug and Julius slowly nodded. "I don't want to do it if that's the only reason why."

"But you're cute, you just said that yourself." Julius snapped back.

"So!" Sydney snapped as well. "I can't be cute all the time it's a tough job."

"If Syd isn't going to be the ring bearer, can I?" Patrick spoke up after a second.

"Oh go ahead, that leaves the best man position up to me." Noah replied and then received a flick to his ear. He turned his eyes over to Patrick and narrowed his eyes. "What? _You _were the one that just said that he wanted to be the ring bearer."

"Yeah, that was _before _you tried to weasel your way into the best man position."

"It's not weaseling, it's creative strategy."

That just caused Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney to argue and try to talk over each other, raising their voices as they continued to do so. Julius, usually the calm one that could get them to shut up in two seconds was now tired of the yelling and being ignored. His right eye was twitching ever so slightly and Ronan could see a vein in his forehead start to twitch repeatedly.

"WOULD YOU ALL PUT A LID ON IT?" Julius shouted, causing the others to fall instantly quiet.

"You don't have to yell," Rhuben stated, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah, we were just asking you a simple question." Riley added indignantly. "It's not our fault that you had to go and lose your temper." She grinned as Julius gave her a withering look.

"Um, why don't we give Julius some time to cool down for a bit," Ronan finally spoke up as he got up from the chair and started to pull his shoes, that were by the chair, on. "C'mon guys, let's go for a walk." He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and started to dial a number. "Maybe the guys can show Jo, Camille, Stephanie, and WayneWayne around since they haven't been here before."

"You mean out there?" Noah asked, pointing towards the window, his eyes widening slightly in horror. "In the cold?"

* * *

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Kacy asked, her eyebrows furrowing together when she pulled open the front door to see Ronan standing on the other side. "I figured that you would have gone with Gustavo and Kelly to see what they…didn't see when they had come to Minnesota earlier."

"Yeah, well after the 'family bonding' I just had with the kids I don't think that I would be able to be around Gustavo and Kelly for a while," Ronan shrugged in reply, stamping snow off of his shoes. "I mean, Gustavo's yelling is already damaging my hearing, and I don't know about you, but his and Kelly's constant arguing has been getting on my nerves."

"It's not only you," Kacy smiled back as she held out her arms for Ronan's jacket and put it in the closet. "But what does that have to do with your kids?"

"Oh," Ronan lightly hit the side of his head and laughed. "Julius and Brittany were _trying_, trying being the key word there, to talk to the others about the wedding arrangements and that just caused them to start arguing and shout at each other, although I know that they were doing it on purpose so the two of them would loosen up about the whole thing." He shook his head. "I don't think it worked well."

"Headache?" Kacy guessed and smiled when Ronan nodded lightly. "I'll get you a cup of coffee then."

"It always does wonders." Ronan replied and bent down, taking off his shoes, before following Kacy to the kitchen. He walked over to an empty space at the kitchen table and sat down heavily in a chair. "So how does it feel to be back here?"

"Not that different," Kacy replied over her shoulder. "I'm used to the warmer climate back in Los Angeles, but you can never get over your first home, you know?" Ronan nodded silently as he watched her make his coffee for him. He looked around the room and smiled when he looked at the various pictures of Kendall and Katie as they were growing up.

Ronan then looked at the table and saw numerous newspaper pages spread out onto the table as well as numerous envelopes and letters. Ronan looked up, to make sure that Kacy was still working, and then leaned closer to the mail. His eyes scanned a few letters and he frowned when he saw the name 'Kevin Knight' as part of the return addresses on a few envelopes.

"So is this the only reason that you came by?" Kacy asked, causing Ronan to quickly sit back and looked innocent as she turned from the stove, holding onto a mug and a coffee pot.

"Uh, no but I wanted to ask you about something," Ronan stated and went ahead with the question before he could talk himself out of it. "Have you told Kendall and Katie about your husband yet?" He blew on his cup of coffee, watching the steam rise out of the cup, trying not to look over at Kacy. "I mean, there's only so long that he can wait before he demands to see them." Kacy sighed and leaned back in her seat, glancing down at the table before up at Ronan. "Sorry, it was just there-"

"No, don't apologize." Kacy shook her head and moved her hair behind her ears. "It's my fault for waiting so long to tell them anyway." She moved forward and rested her arms on the table and rubbed the back of her neck with one hand. "It's actually getting pretty stressful, I want to tell them, but I keep chickening out." She let out another sigh. "It's a very big deal, you know? For them to see their dad again, I don't even know if that's what they want to do, since he's been gone for so long." She continued to rub her neck. "God" she muttered under her breath.

"Maybe I can help you." Ronan spoke lightly and his eyes sparkled, amused.

Kacy snorted in a manner that was very unlike her. "Help with what?" she questioned sharply. "With the fact that my decision could hurt or help my kids?"

"No, with your neck." Ronan replied, looking at her funny. "You're completely tensed." He shrugged and smiled modestly. "I don't want to pride myself on something but I heard more than once that my massages could do wonders."

Kacy wanted to object but before she could utter as much as a word, Ronan had gotten up from the desk and placed himself behind her. A moment later he put his hands gently on her neck and his fingers started to knead her muscles. He had a tight grip and she gave an involuntarily moan. Her muscles must have been pretty tense because for the first two minutes she felt no more than pain but with every movement of his fingers she could feel her muscles given in a bit more into his treatment. She closed her eyes and for the time being she forgot completely where she was.

She didn't know how much time had passed as he stopped, his fingers still lying on her shoulders.

"Better?" He spoke quietly, his voice barely more than a whisper.

"You are really good." Kacy didn't want to say that, ok she did, but she didn't want it to come out like a purr. Startled, she turned with her chair, causing him to remove his hands. The light brush of his fingertips just before leaving her skin made the fine her hairs on her neck tingle and she felt goose bumps covering the areas where his hands had laid just before.

She wanted to say something, anything, but for the moment words failed her. "Ronan, listen. I..." she started unsure but was interrupted by him.

"Shh." The smile he gave her was shy, almost boyish and he placed his index finger lightly on her lips.

Kacy wanted to tell him…that with the idea of Kevin coming around (as he could have heard that they were back in Minnesota) it probably wasn't a good idea that they were doing this. She forget her thoughts the moment his fingers started to trace lightly the curve of her lips, wandering to her cheek that he stroke gently, finally resting on her neck making the fine hairs there standing on edge.

As his face neared hers she was surprised to know that she didn't really care if her ex-husband came around. She deserved to be happy and she was going to be happy. As Ronan's lips lightly brushed hers she felt herself responding to the soft pressure. She could feel him shiver lightly and her body reciprocated his reaction in an instant. He pulled away slightly, only so much that his lips weren't on hers anymore but that she could feel his breath on her face. They remained like this for seconds that seemed to stretch into years and as she couldn't bear the waiting anymore she leaned back into him.

Again she felt a jolt of electricity at the touch of his lips and as his tongue was lightly teasing her lips she opened her mouth slightly. He accepted her invitation and his tongue started to explore her mouth slowly. It seemed like an endless slow dance, where their tongues circled each other playfully, where she teasingly nibbled at his bottom lip, where he slowly licked her lips.

She didn't know what would have happened when her phone wouldn't have started to ring all of sudden but they jumped apart, looking at each other, their guilty consciences written on their faces. Ronan picked up her phone and looked at the ID, his face darkening for a second, before handing it over to him.

Of course.

It was Kevin.

"Maybe, you should answer it." His voice sounded hoarse, even in his own ears.

Kacy reached out to grab it, and as soon as it was in her hand, she jumped again when the front door to the house opened and Gustavo walked in, talking loudly. They could hear Kelly's heels click-clack towards them and soon the two of them were staring at Gustavo and Kelly, who stared back at them.

"Hi" Gustavo grunted.

"What's going on?" Kelly asked slowly.

* * *

"So you go to show them around your home, and yet you _still_ seem to manage to take us to a hockey rink," Rhuben stated as she waited for Logan to tie his skates. "Where its _cold_." She shoved her hands into the pocket on the front of her purple sweatshirt.

"You know, you guys really have to get over this whole cold thing," Logan stated and smiled up at her, letting her know that he was teasing her. "Eventually, you're going to have to live somewhere where it's cold."

"Maybe, maybe not," Rhuben shrugged her shoulders and watched, smiling a little and waving at Stephanie and Carlos, who were stumbling across the ice. "It depends on where we end up. But I don't really want to think about that."

Well, Stephanie was stumbling; Carlos was dragging her across the ice, laughing good naturedly at her as he did so. Patrick and Noah were skating around with Katie, Riley was skating with Sydney, holding a firm grip on his hand as he wobbled on the ice, Camille and WayneWayne were going around, James was obviously trying to impress Jo as he zoomed around the ice, and Kendall was at the farther end, taking shots at the goal with a hockey stick.

"Why?" Logan got up from the bench and the two started to walk their way over to the opening to get onto the ice.

"I just like to live life day by day," Rhuben replied as she moved out onto the ice, wobbling slightly. Logan was immediately by her side, steadying her. "It's the way that I lived when my dad…uh...when _he_ was around, so I guess it's a habit."

"I getcha." Logan replied and gave her a half smile as the two continued to move around the ice. Logan moved at a slow pace, to make sure that Rhuben didn't fall over. If he felt her wobble he would tighten his grip on her and pull her closer to him.

"So when are you going to tell me what's bothering you?" Rhuben questioned. Logan was so startled he skidded to a stop, the sudden jolt causing Rhuben to fall to the ice and hit her hip against the ground.

"Ouch," Katie winced as she, Patrick, and Noah skated over. "Rhuben are you ok?"

"I'm fine, Katie." Rhuben smiled back at her as she and Logan pulled her off of the ice. "Just make sure that these two," she reached out and purposely messed up Patrick's and Noah's hair. "Don't kill themselves, they get stupid ideas then get very competitive."

"I'll keep an eye on them." Katie smiled and laughed as Patrick let out a screech and immediately started to move his hair back to its normal position.

Logan waited until the three of them had gone by again before turning to Rhuben, his chocolate brown eyes holding an expression of guilt and fear at the same time. "Uh, what makes you think that something's wrong?"

"Don't even try to lie to me, Logie." Rhuben looked at him sternly as she crossed her arms over her chest. "You know that it will just make things worse and I can always tell when you lie." She pointed out. Logan's mouth twitched a little before he let out a breath, but stayed silent. "There has to be a reason as to why you have been acting kind of…needy lately."

"Do you…do you love me?" Logan asked as he finally lifted his head and looked her right in the eye. Rhuben raised an eyebrow, looking offended. "Lately, I can't help but…have the feeling that you don't want to be with me anymore. I mean, it's not our fault that we can't really have any time alone, being on tour and all, but, I don't know, I haven't felt that you've wanted to be around me. And it's also the fact that-"

"Logie, you're rambling." Rhuben cut in, waving a hand, trying to get him to get to the point faster. She narrowed her eyes again and Logan swallowed thickly. "Wait, is this the reason why you've been spurting the 'l' word left and right lately?" Before Logan could reply, Rhuben laughed a little and shook her head. "Are you completely stupid?"

"No, I'd think that my IQ would be able to easily show you that I'm, in fact, not stupid at all." Logan replied almost on autopilot. He always liked to tease his friends about being the smartest one out of all of them and sometimes it was hard for him to stop.

"No," Rhuben moved closer to him, blushing a little. "I do love you, Logie." She stated and lightly ran her hand over his cheek before giving him a peck on the lips. "You're my best friend, of course I love you. But," she sighed a little and looked a little afraid. "I'm not ready to actually say that I'm _in_ love with you and the way that you keep telling me you are with me just makes it harder and harder."

"So my saying it more has been making you feel like I've been pressuring you to say it, resulting in your not being able to," Logan replied and nodded. "I get it," he smiled. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well," Rhuben twisted her mouth to the side. "Probably for the same reason that Riley isn't telling Kendall that she still likes him." She shrugged. "Riles and I…when it comes to guys we're always very distrusting of them and when we do get into a relationship it takes a really long time for us, especially me, to actually express our feelings for something." She then poked Logan in the chest. "And I thought you promised that you wouldn't rush me in to anything. Do you not remember that?"

_"But you know me, Rhu," Logan finally spoke up. "You know that I wouldn't do anything to hurt you."_

_"I __do__ know that," Rhuben agreed calmly. "So all you have to do is do me a favor."_

_"What's that?" Logan asked as he raised his eyebrows._

_"If we're going to do this…this dating thing," she replied. "Please don't rush me."_

_"I won't, I promise." Logan replied in a whisper causing Rhuben to smile a little bit. "You can trust me, Rhu."_

"What happened to _that_ promise, Logie-Bear?" Rhuben asked and laughed when Logan winced, not really liking the nickname that she and Riley had given him years before.

"Sorry," Logan pressed his forehead against hers and smiled sweetly. "I think I lost my head there a little bit, it happens when I'm around you," he pulled back a little and grinned. "Because you're so beautiful."

"Cheeseball!" Rhuben declared and gave him a hug.

Over on the other side of the ice, Katie watched as Kendall took a hockey puck and shot it into the goal over and over, with increasing force each and every time he did so. She could see his scowl from the distance and sighed heavily as she shook her head, feeling sympathy for her brother. Patrick and Noah, who were a few paced behind her, grabbed onto her shoulders and tried to stop without falling.

"What're you looking at?" Noah asked her and then over at Kendall. "Oh," he nodded. "How's he holding up?"

"Uh, not great." Katie replied, shaking her head. "How about Riley?"

"She's in denial," Patrick shrugged carelessly. "She always is. I don't know, I guess she took hers and Kendall's fight really personally, even though it _was_ just a stupid fight." Noah nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I mean, so what if you dad wants to come see you guys? Maybe it would be a good thing." He frowned when he felt Katie stiffen under his hand and then slowly turn around, looking at the twin boys, her green eyes narrowed. Noah immediately knew what was wrong and exchanged a worried look with Patrick. "You-you didn't know?" he asked.

"Didn't know what?" Katie demanded. Patrick started to babble out an answer, and Katie grabbed him by the front of his shirt and held up a fist. "Tell me…I didn't know what?"

"Um," Noah gently pried Patrick's hand away from his brother's shirt. "That your dad had sent Kendall a letter saying that he wanted to see the two of you."

"How long ago was the letter sent?"

"Um," Patrick rubbed the back of his neck. "We don't know," he stated quickly. "But that doesn't mean-"

Katie backed away from Patrick and Noah and quickly turned and skated her way over to Kendall. He had brought his stick back and was getting ready to hit a hockey puck. But before he could bring it down, Katie grabbed onto the stick. Kendall whirled around and looked at Katie with widened eyes. "Katie, what are you-"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT DAD WANTED TO SEE US?" She yelled so loudly that her voice echoed across the rink. The others slowly stopped skating and watched as Katie held onto Kendall's hockey stick so hard that her hands were turning white. "_Why?_"

"How did you-"Kendall suddenly looked angry and then turned to Riley. "You told her didn't you?"

"I'm actually very shocked that you would think that I would do that," Riley stated, her face void of any emotion, but she had tightened her grip on Sydney's hands. He bit his lower lip to try not to cry out in pain. "What the fuck do you think, Kendall? No, I didn't tell her."

"Then how does she know?" Kendall spat back.

"We told her," Patrick spoke up. "Accidentally." He added quickly. "We didn't know that you hadn't told her, I mean, Ri-Ri told us…because we don't keep things from each other but-"

"I didn't tell your sister because I didn't think that it was my place to," Riley interrupted her brother. "I always thought that you should have told her, or at least that this was going to blow up in your face. And I was right."

"You-"Kendall closed his eyes and moved a few lengths back as Katie thrusted his hockey stick at him, turning his attention back to her. "Katie, listen, I didn't-"

"How could you do that Kendall?" Katie demanded. "Did you purposely _try_ to hurt me?" Tears started to fall down her cheek. "Even if you didn't try to you definitely succeeded." She roughly wiped off her cheeks and glared at her brother. "I hate you!"

With that, she turned and skated away from her brother.

* * *

**A/N: I know this story only has 16 chapters so far, but from what I've already written…I don't know, I'm not that happy with it. I know what I want for this story and I know that in reality there's not many chapters left, but I have the feeling that I don't like what I have so far. I don't know, it's just what I'm feeling. **

**This chapter started out as only a humorous one and it was going to be really short, showing how the Jacksons got along with each other, then I decided to put the confrontation with Kendall and Katie to (potentially) strengthen their relationship as well as using it to push Kendall and Riley further away (because I'm trying to make that as realistic as possible since they're stuck being around each other, plus we know that Riley doesn't really feel the way that she says she does about Kendall.) Plus I wanted to show more Racy (although I'm wondering if I should make Kelly and Gustavo find out.)**

**I put a conclusion to Logan's small problem because I never actually intended for him to have one in the first place, only that he was trying to help his friends. But I thought how would he fell if he kept telling Rhuben he loves her but she never said it, and now that's resolved (especially after the whole Brit thing in the last story.) I know there hasn't really been much with Jo, Camille, Stephanie, Katie, or WayneWayne, but I'm working on it.**

**What else would you guys like to see in this story? I'm willing to take any suggestions. Thanks for listening to my doubts and I'll update again soon.**

**Cheers,**

**Riley**


	17. Big Time Brother and Sister

**Chapter Seventeen – Big Time Brother and Sister **

**A/N: This chapter is focused on Kendall and Katie, since everyone loves their brotherxsister moments so much.**

**

* * *

**"What's the matter with you guys?" Kelly questioned as she looked at each boy in their dressing room, a couple of hours before they had to go on stage. "You guys look like you've lost your best friend."

The day after Katie had found out about Kendall not telling her that their dad wanted to see them (and vowing never to speak to him again) they were back on the road towards New York. Tonight they were doing a concert and they had two more before they made it to New York, where they would also be spending Christmas before they went over to Australia for the other half of their tour.

"That's not possible," Carlos remarked innocently as he looked around the room at Kendall, James, and Logan. "We're all right here."

"But there's definitely something bothering you guys and we can't have that," Gustavo stated as he walked into the room, holding his hands behind his back. "We need your chemistry onstage or your already meek performances are just going to get worse."

"If they're already meek can they _get_ any worse?" Kendall replied irritably, looking at Gustavo's reflection through the mirror that he was sitting at, twirling a brush in his hands. "Not that it would matter to you, because you think we're terrible anyway." He looked away and started to brush his hair again.

"What?" Gustavo exploded in disbelief.

"Please ignore him, Gustavo; he's just being an idiot." James commented lazily from where he was sitting on the couch, most likely texting Jo.

"What did you just say?" Kendall demanded, turning in his seat and glaring over at his taller friend. James looked up over his phone and raised his eyebrows as he looked back at Kendall.

"I said you're an idiot," James replied calmly. "Unless you didn't hear me the first time."

"Guys, please don't fight." Carlos pleaded.

"Wait," Kelly held up a hand. "What's going on?" She looked back and forth from Kendall and James, watching, waiting to see who would be the first one to respond. Logan knew that the two of them weren't going to say anything so he opted to speak up.

"Kendall got the news that his estranged father wanted to see them and he kept it from Katie," Logan explained quickly. "And now she found out and is mad at Kendall, and Kendall is taking his frustration about it on you."

"Well, don't do that." Gustavo replied sharply.

"What do you mean I'm an idiot?" Kendall got to his feet and crossed the room to James and stood in front of him. James continued to text on his phone and Kendall grabbed his phone and threw it onto the couch in one swift tug. "Tell me!"

"Isn't it obvious," James sounded mocking as he stood up and looked down at Kendall, as he was a few inches taller than him. "You're so wrapped up in yourself that you can't even think of going to your sister and apologizing to her." He laughed a little. "Do you even understand why she's so upset?"

"Of course I do," Kendall narrowed his eyes at his friend. "It's because of the fact that dad didn't-"

"Wrong answer," James interrupted Kendall. Logan looked over at Carlos who looked like he wanted to say something but decided to keep it to himself. Carlos was never that great at confrontations as he tried to avoid them the best he could. "Katie is mad because the guy that she looks up to the most, you, have been lying to her this whole time and kept something this big from her when you two usually don't keep secrets from each other." He took a deep breath and looked Kendall right in the eyes. "If you can't figure that out, if you can't realize that what you're doing is pushing people away, then it doesn't surprise me that things like this keep happening to you."

James moved around Kendall and started to walk towards the door. "Where do you think you're going?" Gustavo barked after him.

"I'm going to go talk to Katie," James replied, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. "Because _someone_ won't do it." He looked at Kendall's back and then looked away. "I'll be back in a few minutes." James then left the room and walked towards the Jacksons' dressing room, she was most likely there. After she had yelled at Kendall, Katie had latched onto Patrick, Noah, and Sydney even more than usual. He didn't blame her, if he had a brother or sister that he was close to that let him down, he would probably do the same thing.

"Hey guys," James knocked on the Jacksons' dressing room door and peeked his head in slowly just in case Riley and Rhuben were changing. (Not that he would have minded.)

"Hey Handsome," Riley and Rhuben called back from the table in the corner, they both were holding a deck of cards as Patrick, Katie, and Sydney were crowded around Noah, who was crouching on the floor, explaining something. "What's up?"

"What're you doing?" James laughed as he walked over to them.

"I was just showing them a magic trick," Noah replied as he lifted his head and smiled peacefully, moving his hair away from his face. "What's up?"

"I wanted to talk to Katie actually," James replied and smiled a little. "And I thought that she would be over here and I was right."

"Speaking of which, where are the others?" Riley questioned, smacking the deck of cards against her palm. She then leaned over and smacked Patrick on the back of the heard with them and pointed over at Rhuben when he quickly turned his head towards her, glaring him.

"Oh, they're back at the hotel getting something to eat before they come over to watch us perform." James laughed, watching their exchange. "Anyway, Katie, can I talk to you?"

"Sure," Katie shrugged over towards Sydney, who looked at her with question in his eyes before getting up and following James out of the room. "What did you want to talk to me about, James?" she asked as soon as the door was closed.

"Kendall," James replied and grabbed Katie's shoulders as she turned around to go back into the room. "Not so fast, I just want to talk for a minute and it's something that you definitely should listen to." Katie sighed and crossed her arms over her chest, turning her head back towards the door when there was a burst of laughter from inside. "Kendall is a dope," James stated, causing Katie to smile a little. "But that doesn't mean that you should be mad at him."

"But he lied to me James," Katie stated and was surprised to find tears springing to her eyes. "Every time I asked what was wrong he lied to me. And we _never_ keep secrets from each other!"

"So why would you want to go and throw how close you guys are away just because he lied to you _once_?" James asked quietly. "And he kept a secret from you _once_. That's the only time he ever did it and he is really sorry about it, it's just with the news of your dad wanting to see you, and the fact that he's dwelling on his breakup with Riley, and the pressure and the stress of the tour is getting to him and he can't think straight." James grinned. "Hell, even I can't think straight sometimes."

"Your head is filled with hair spray," Katie teased back, despite the fact that she wanted to stay mad. "When do you ever think?"

"See!" James grinned and then frowned for a second. "Wait a minute-"

"I'm just kidding James," Katie laughed and then bit her lower lip. "Do you think that he thinks I meant it when I said that I hated him and never wanted to speak to him again?" She suddenly didn't look like a tough girl that she always wanted to show the world. She looked scared and fragile and confused, just like any other 13 year old girl should. "I don't hate him at all." A tear ran down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away. "He's the best big brother ever."

"I think he knows that," James replied with a nod. "But you're going to have to tell him."

Katie smiled and stepped forward, throwing her arms around James' waist and burying her face into his stomach. "Thanks James," she smiled. "You're the best."

"Anytime." James replied, hugging her back.

* * *

"Hello?"

Kendall pulled his ear buds out of his ears and sat up on the couch, swinging his legs to the floor when he noticed Rhuben stick her head into the room and looked around. "I don't suppose that you're going to tell me that you hate me as well." Kendall commented as he wrapped his headphones around his IPod. "I mean 'cause Katie and your sister already do, it's only a matter of time until all the girls around here do."

Rhuben stopped in her tracks. "Well if you're going to continue to talk like that I'm not going to have a choice but to hate you." She remarked after a second.

"Sorry," Kendall apologized with a side. "I'm a little messed up right now."

"It's understandable," Rhuben commented as she sat down next to him on the couch and brought her legs up underneath her. "Tours can really get very stressful, but it's your first tour so don't get too down about it."

"Yeah," Kendall commented and then looked up. "If you're looking for Logan, he, James, and Carlos went-"

"I was looking for you," Rhuben interrupted. "I wanted to talk to you about what happened with Katie the other day."

"Oh," Kendall suddenly felt guilty all over again. He couldn't help but have Katie yelling at him that she hated him stuck in his head. It sounded on repeat almost every time he started to forget about it. Then the glares that she sent his way were making it worse. Then James started to yell at him about it, and that just made things even worse. "What about it?"

"I'm going to tell you this because I care about you," Rhuben said and looked at him out of the corner of her eye. Kendall nodded and waited for her to speak again. "You're a dope." Rhuben replied without even thinking about it. "And that's the nicest way that I can say it."

"Gee thanks," Kendall commented, rolling his eyes.

"No problem." Rhuben replied and lightly flicked him on the ear. "But you really are. What you're doing is taking your anger and frustration about what you've been feeling about your dad and taking it out on everyone else." She explained and Kendall looked over at her, listening quietly. "You're so scared about seeing your dad, because you don't know what's going to come out of it, that you're using it to lash out at other people." She gathered her hair into a ponytail and dropped it behind her shoulders. "And you thought that keeping it from Katie, keeping her from finding out, would help her rather than hurt her."

"And I _did_ think that!" Kendall defended himself, getting very emotional.

"But did you think about what would happen if you did keep the secret from her and she found out?" Rhuben questioned. Kendall stayed silent. "I'm guessing the answer to that question is 'no'."

"Who ever thinks that far ahead?" Kendall asked.

"Do you not realize that what you do has an effect on other people?" Rhuben shook her head and then fell silent as she studied Kendall. "Do you want to know how my sister, my brothers, and I are always so close?" She didn't let Kendall answer. "It's because we don't keep secrets from each other, we think about how what we're doing could hurt the other person, and because whenever we make each other mad, we talk about it instead of letting the other person run off."

"What do you mean?"

"Take Patrick and Noah for example, they're like, Siamese twins because they can't stand to be away from each other, but they do fight, although not as often as they used to." Rhuben explained. "And when they do get mad, for like, ten seconds they'll want to be away from each other, but then they would go back and apologize to each other and explain why they were mad in the first place." She laughed and rubbed Kendall's shoulder. "We can be as stubborn as mules when it comes to things that we think we're right about, we can have bad tempers, and we may say things we don't mean, but we'll always apologize to each other the second that we do something wrong."

"Which is what I did wrong," Kendall stated as he nodded slowly. "I screwed up on two parts, ruining how close I was with Katie by lying to her, and then not apologizing to her."

"Now you're getting it." Rhuben stated and wrapped an arm around Kendall's shoulders and hugged him to her side.

"Thanks Rhubes," Kendall hugged her back, smiling a little. "I really did need this talk." He looked thoughtful. "But I have a question, you and Riles are close, you have each other's backs, how come you don't' hate me?"

"Just because you and Riley broke up doesn't mean that you're not my friend," Rhuben replied simply. She then leaned forward and kissed his cheek, causing him to laugh. "Feel better?"

"Much." He replied with a grin. "Thanks again."

"It's no problem K-Dawg," Rhuben replied as she got up off of the couch and brushed off the seat of her pants. "I'm glad to do it. Anything for a friend that helped me" She gave him another hug, kiss on the cheek, and a smile before she walked out of the dressing room and closed the door behind her, turning to James, who was waiting for her.

"How'd it go?" he asked eagerly.

"He's ready to apologize to her as well." Rhuben smiled and held up her hand and James grinned and gave her a high-five. "We're so good at this we should be paid." She commented, hooking her arm through James' and they started to walk down the hall.

"What would they do without us?" James asked, buffing his nails off on his shirt.

"Probably never speak to each other again," Rhuben commented and then frowned, placing a finger on her chin. "We should have gotten paid for it."

"We'll remember that for next time." James replied.

Back in the dressing room, Kendall got up from the couch and took a deep breath before going to find his sister. He wandered all around backstage and even went to the stage, looking out from behind it and watching as the fans started to pour into the arena, talking to each other excitedly as they waited for the concert. Did they even realize that those that were performing for them actually had lives? Did they have any idea what they went through to be normal teenagers as well as being a band to make their fans happy? Probably not and that's something that Kendall liked about Big Time Rush not being that big, they still had their privacy, as opposed to the Jacksons, who would be followed/stalked by fans and paparazzi every now and then.

Kendall smiled a little, watching the fans a little bit more before turning on his feel and continuing to wander around, looking for his sister. He heard the sound of one of the carts that security drove and turned around to see Katie in it driving towards him. Katie slowed down the cart when she saw him and gave a little smile when she pulled up next to him.

"Hop in." she stated as she came to a complete stop.

"Does mom know that you're driving this?" Kendall asked, immediately going into worried big brother mode, without even thinking of the fact that he didn't know if she was still mad at him.

"Probably not," Katie shrugged a little. "She's been acting kinda weird the past few days, so I decided to take advantage of it."

"Is this thing stolen?" Kendall continued to question.

Katie paused and looked like she was thinking really hard. "That depends on what you mean by _stolen_" she commented.

"_There she is!"_

Kendall turned around and saw two large security guards running their way, their eyes trained on Katie who was sitting in the cart looking like a deer caught in headlights. Kendall thought about it for a split second before vaulting into the passenger seat and buckling himself as Katie floored the gas pedal to get away from the security guards. The two laughed as Katie drove the cart around backstage, not really sure where she was going, but enjoying the ride anyway. When she was sure that they were far enough away from the security guards, she stopped the cart and the two sat in silence.

"I'm sorry Big Bro." Katie whispered.

It was so quiet, but Kendall heard her and he knew that when she called him 'Big Bro' that everything was going to be ok between the two of them again.

"I'm sorry too Baby Sister." Kendall replied and wrapped his arms around her in a hug. "You always look at me like I'm perfect, but I'm not." He stated when she pulled away from him and looked up at him with a smile. "I make mistakes and I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about Dad when I first found out." He took a deep breath. "But I found out because he had sent the letter to mom to give to me, so mom knows that Dad wants to see us, but she hasn't told me. I found out for myself, and then kept it from you."

"I figured that mom knew, it kind of tipped me off when on your birthday she had asked you whether or not you had gotten a gift from someone else besides the rest of us." Katie stated.

"Oh yeah," Kendall blushed at the memory. "Dad had sent me a birthday card then too. It wouldn't surprise me if mom had gotten something else from him over Thanksgiving as well."

"Yeah, do you know why she, Ronan, Kelly, and Gustavo have been acting on edge lately," Katei questioned. "Like, more than usual?"

"I don't know," Kendall replied, thinking about it. "Ronan has always been a little jumpy, but I guess that's only because he had worked with Robert, who is a really scary dude, Gustavo and Kelly have always been weird, and mom…well…I guess they rubbed off on her." He thought out loud. He then looked over at Katie with a serious expression. "We should go tell mom that we know about Dad wanting to see us. But I want you to know that I'm thinking of going to see Dad."

"Ok," Katie replied simply. "Then I'm going with you."

"What?" Kendall blinked once.

"If you're going to go see Dad then I'm coming with you," Katie stated with a firm nod. "Besides, you may need me."

"What am I going to need you for?" Kendall snorted playfully.

"If Dad turns out to be an even bigger jerk than we thought, then I can take his wallet and take his money to spend." Katie replied, her eyes flashing with mischief.

"How do you know how to-"Kendall stopped and shook his head. "Never mind, I shouldn't even ask. You're the sneakiest person on the planet, so it shouldn't surprise me that you know how to pick-pocket someone." He smiled and lightly shoved his sister's arm. "C'mon, I'm sure that mom is around here somewhere, let's go tell her."

"You got it, Big Bro." Katie smiled as Kendall got down from the cart and bent down so Katie could wrap her arms around his neck and get a piggy back ride. "Kendall?"

"Yeah?"

"You know that I could never hate you, right?" Katie sounded so small when she asked the question, but she wanted to make sure that he did know that. She could never hate him, he was her dad and her brother all rolled into one and she couldn't ask for anyone better.

"Yeah, I know that." Kendall smiled. "Thanks." The two walked around backstage until their found their mother talking standing close to Ronan, looking worried as they were talking about something. When Ronan noticed them getting closer he cleared his throat and smoothly stepped back a few spaces before smiling at them.

"Hey guys, what's up?" he asked with a bright smile. "Not nervous about the concert are you."

"Of course I'm nervous," Kendall commented. In the back of his mind he wondered why Ronan or Julius didn't threaten him or hate him because he and Riley had had a nasty break up, but he knew that the two older men knew that it was just a fact of life, people break up every day and that when it happened it happened. Ronan and Julius were fair people and they didn't want to make things uncomfortable and that was something that Kendall liked about them. "I'm always nervous before I go onstage but that just helps to make the concert that much better."

"Good to hear." Ronan grinned and slapped Kendall on the arm.

"What's up?" Kacy asked, turning to her son and daughter.

"We have something we need to tell you." Kendall replied…

* * *

**A/N: There so James talked to Katie, Rhuben talked to Kendall, and the two of them are close again. (Good way for me to show the KendallxRhuben friendship). Now they're planning on seeing their dad together and even told their mother, who didn't know they knew. Next chapter has more of Jo, Camille, Stephanie, and WayneWayne, then after that is the Christmas chapter, then they're all in Australia for the rest of the tour and to get ready for Julius' and Brittany's wedding. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I'll update again soon.**

**-Riley**


	18. Big Time SecondThoughts

**Chapter Eighteen – Big Time Second-Thoughts**

**A/N: This is a slightly more humorous chapter than the ones before.**

**

* * *

**"You want me to do _what_?" Jo gasped as she stared at James with wide eyes. "You can't be serious."

James grinned as he nodded from where he was sitting across from her at the large dinner table that everyone was sitting at. Jo, Camille, Stephanie, Katie, and WayneWayne were staring at him at the news that he just broke. He had announced that he and Logan, Carlos, Kendall, and the DarkElements wanted Jo to sing a song during their concert. Of course that was just met with blank stares and a horrified look from Jo. Not after she had spit out a mouthful of water all over the table.

"No, he's serious," Logan replied as he wiped his mouth off with a napkin. "It's probably one of the few times that he _is _serious, so you might want to jump on it."

"But, I can't sing in front of all those people." Jo stated, her eyes growing wide in a panic. "I mean, do you _know_ how many people you bring in for a crowd?" Her hands started to shake a little as she rested her elbows on the table. "Seriously guys, this isn't a funny joke."

"Who's joking?" Noah asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, and since when are you nervous?" Patrick added as he wrinkled his nose. "You've sang in front of us before."

"Yeah, in front of _you_," Jo agreed with a rapid nod. "Not in front of thousands of people."

"You're freaking out over nothing, sweetie," Camille stated as she wrapped an arm around Jo's shoulders and shook her gently. "You're an amazing singer," she paused. "Which seems to be something that all of us have to have to be friends," she laughed a little. "And we can help you over any stage fright that you have."

"I do _not_ have stage fright." Jo replied sharply.

"Oh, so what would you call it?" WayneWayne asked as he grabbed his glass and took a sip of his water. He made a gurgling sound and jerked forward as there was a dull thud from under the table. Camille glared over at him and he just looked back at her through slightly narrowed eyes.

"Listen, Jo," Kendall spoke up now. "Everyone gets stage fright, I mean me and the guys are nervous balls of energy right before we go onstage and we're nervous when we're on stage as well. But we always do a good job."

"I wouldn't say always." Stephanie commented teasingly.

"Thanks for the backup there, that really helped." Kendall replied.

"Don't listen to them," Sydney wiggled down from his chair and hurried around the table over to Jo and smiled up at her. "I know that you're going to do a good job. And everyone else has faith in your as well." He held his hands up and shrugged. "And from what I've experienced, telling yourself that you're going to do badly before you do something is just going to cause you to fail." He smiled a little. "You don't have to answer yet, so why not just think about it for a while? Our next concert isn't until we're in Australia and that's a couple of weeks away. You can give us your answer then." He then grinned fully, dimples appearing in his cheeks.

"Aww, you're so sweet Syd." Jo kissed his cheek and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "Thanks for that."

"Suck up." James, Patrick, and Noah muttered under their breaths. Katie frowned over at Noah and shot her foot forward, wanting to kick him.

"OW!" Patrick cried out, dropping his fork and knife as he bent over to rub his shin. "What did you do that for?"

"Sorry, I missed." Katie replied, not looking like she was seriously upset about it, and shot her other foot forward, hitting Noah in the middle of his shin.

"Ow!" He cried, mimicking his brother by dropping his silverware and grabbing onto his leg. "What was that for?"

"No reason," Katie replied, sticking her nose in the air. "I just felt like it." She stuck out her tongue at them. She then turned her head when Carlos tried to take her piece of steak off of her plate. "Unless you want to be stabbed with a fork, I suggest that you get away from my food." She warned.

"You might want to listen to her," Rhuben laughed as Carlos made the sound of a wounded puppy and moved his hands back to his own plate. "I've seen her try and beat Patrick for a piece of cake," she shook her head. "It wasn't pretty."

"Nothing is ever pretty when you get hit in the face by a flying cake," Riley commented and pushed her plate away from her and looked over at her brothers and sister. "So Julius and Brittany went out on a date and the adults are out for the night, do you guys want to watch a movie?"

"Sorry," Rhuben tossed a napkin onto her plate and grabbed her phone off of the table. "We're going with Kendall to the mall."

"Oh," Riley blinked as she sat back in her chair. Logan looked over at her as a hurt look flashed across her face, but it disappeared quickly. She smiled. "Have fun."

"Don't you want to come with us, Riles?" Noah asked, his eyebrows crinkling together. "We can get some more ideas for our stage clothes."

"No, I'm good." Riley replied, waving a hand. "Just bring me something back, alright?"

"Alright," Patrick replied with a shrug.

Everyone got up and started to clear away their spots, leaving their plates in the center as well as a hefty tip for the waiter that was going to have to clean up after all of them. That was something that they didn't really like about the tour; how they had to spend so much money on buying food for themselves on the bus as well as buying a lot of food in the hotel's that they stayed at. Not to mention they were also very lazy and had to cart around all their clothes and junk everywhere.

"Hey," Logan grabbed Rhuben's attention as they all started to leave the hotel's dining room. "I'm just going to hang back here."

"You sure?" Rhuben raised an eyebrow and looked at him as if he was crazy. "We're in New York, there's so much stuff for you to see and you want to hang here?" She crossed her arms over her chest and looked him up and down. "Who are you and what have you done with Logan?"

"I wouldn't be able to get your Christmas gift with you around, so-"Logan stated as he looked at his fingernails.

"You got me at gift," Rhuben stated with a grin. "Anything purple and you're good."

"Like I'd forget," Logan stated and smiled as Rhuben kissed him on the cheek. "I'll catch you later then?" He asked, raising his eyebrows in question.

"Sure thing." Rhuben replied over her shoulder.

"Hey," Riley walked over to him, looking up from her phone as she almost walked into him. She blinked rapidly for a few second and then looked curious. Logan sighed again, knowing that she was hiding something, but didn't want to put pressure on her. "Aren't you going to go to the mall with them?"

"No, I thought that I would stay here with my best friend." Logan replied with a bright smile.

"And not go to any of the numerous libraries and museums here in New York that would make any normal person fall asleep?" Riley asked, sounding skeptical. "Yeah, I don't believe that for a second." Logan threw his hands into the air and rolled his eyes.

"I'm not as boring as you guys think I am." He defended himself.

"Yes you are." Riley replied with a nod. "Yet it's a good trait that you have."

"Whatever," Logan rolled his eyes again. "I decided to stay behind because everyone else is going out to the mall and whatnot and I know that you don't like to be alone."

"Uh-huh," Riley crossed her arms over her chest. "So you need my help with getting Rhuben a Christmas gift?"

"Exactly." Logan nodded. "But it was because I didn't want you to be alone either." Riley looked at him for a second and then smiled a little. "So, best friend, let's go!" He hooked arms with her and the two walked off.

* * *

"YOU'RE WHAT?" Gustavo and Kelly shouted in unison.

Ronan winced and wiggled a finger in his ear as Kacy tilted her head to the side, bringing one hand to her ear, cupping it and looking around. "Did you get that?" Ronan asked as he continued to wiggle a finger in his ear.

"No, I think I went deaf." Kacy replied and continued to hit her ear. "Well isn't this ironic, I'm always telling Katie and Kendall not to leave their music on so loud because it could damage their hearing and it happened to me." She turned a sharp look over to Kelly and Gustavo. "Which was really unneeded."

"Oh who cares about that?" Kelly snapped as she waved a hand in the air. "How long have you guys been dating?"

"Who cares about that?" Gustavo demanded, turning to Kelly with an odd expression on his face. Ronan rested his arms on the table in front of them.

"If you didn't care about us dating," he started slowly. "Then why was it that you just shouted 'you're what' at the top of your lungs?"

"Oh, I didn't say 'you're what'" Gustavo replied and pointed to the menu that was in his hands. "I said 'no way' they don't fries in this god forsaken restaurant." He looked around and noticed that people were staring at him as he and Kelly had just shouted. "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT? HAVEN'T YOU SEEN A MAN THAT WANTS SOME FRENCH FRIES BEFORE?"

"Gustavo!" Kelly grabbed a handful of napkins and shoved it into his mouth. "Shut up!" She forced a smile and turned back to Kacy and Ronan. "While I get the answer out of them as to how long they have been dating and how they haven't mention it to us before." She looked over at Ronan and stuck out his lower lip. "I thought we were best friends."

"Since when?" Ronan asked as he scratched his forehead.

"Why do you think that we've been hanging out so much?" Kelly asked in reply, looking hurt. "But apparently I'm not good enough to be a friend to you guys." She sniffed loudly and started to fake cry. Ronan narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah, I do not believe that for a second." He stated.

"I told you, you were a horrible liar-actress-faker." Gustavo stated.

"Yeah, now I'm thinking that it wasn't such a great idea to tell them that we were dating." Kacy stated. She brushed her hair behind her ears and looked at Kelly and Gustavo seriously. "Listen, we've been dating for a little over a month, not that long. And we, at first, thought that it would be a good idea to keep it a secret between us." She motioned between herself and Ronan and then looked thoughtful. "Well, actually, it was his idea." He nudged Ronan in the side, who grimaced in reply. "But I agreed to it because of Katie and Kendall."

"What do they have to do with it?" Kelly asked, looking genuinely confused.

"Well," Kacy hesitated for a second. "I haven't dated since Kevin and I have gotten a divorce," she looked thoughtful. "Except for when they got Fabio to my date at that dance at the Palm Woods." She looked serious again. "They haven't had to worry about me going out with someone that they don't like. And I'm worried that they won't be supportive of us if we tell them that we are dating."

"That's not the only thing that's keeping you from telling them that they're dating." Kelly added, looking back and forth between the two. Ronan smiled a little.

"You're very perceptive." He remarked.

"I'm a woman, I'm supposed to be." Kelly smirked back and smiled. At that, she, Ronan, and Kacy looked over at Gustavo, who was looking at his phone and grumbling under his breath about getting some French fries. "And I really do mean that." She shook her head and sat back when the waiter arrived at their table, giving them their plates of food. She waited until he walked away before speaking up again. "So what is the other thing that you're not telling me?"

"Kevin wants to be back in Kendall's and Katie's lives again," Ronan spoke up for Kacy, who had let out a heavy sigh and looked at her lap. "He has sent them a few letters asking to see them, but he sent them to Kacy. But Kendall found one of the letters and long story short, he got mad about it, kept it from Katie and from Kacy, Katie found out, got mad at him for it, they made up, Kendall and Katie told Kacy and now they want to see their dad." Ronan replied all in one breath. "And telling them that we're together to exceptionally make it worse and not just for us."

"Wait a minute," Kelly held up her hands. "Is _that_ why Kendall has been really,_ really_ moody lately?" Her eyes widened. Kacy ad Ronan nodded. "Seriously?"

"Then this is your fault!" Gustavo stated as he pointed a finger in between Ronan's eyes. "_You're_ the reason that my dogs have been lying down all the time."

"What do James, Logan, and Carlos have _anything_ to do with what's going on with us?" Ronan asked, not taking any offense to Gustavo jumping to conclusions. He knew that it was just a façade covering the fact that Gustavo actually really did care about the boys and what was going on with them. Gustavo was like an Oreo sometimes, tough one the outside, but nice and soft on the inside (no matter how hard he tried not to show it.) "Anyway, Kacy and I were sure that we were going to tell them, and my kids, what was going on, but now we're having second thoughts."

"Do you want our advice?" Gustavo grunted, already having finished his plate of food and was eyeing Ronan's. Ronan noticed and pulled his away.

"No, I want you to just sit there and smile at me," Ronan replied sarcastically.

"Yes, we would like your advice." Kacy replied, looking miserable. "I want to be a good mother to them but-"

"But you have to let yourself be happy sometimes, sweetie." Kelly stated as she reached out and shook Kacy's hand. "How can your kids be happy if you're not happy?" She smiled warmly. "Now I wouldn't know anything about having kids-"

"Or a date." Gustavo cut in and received another elbow to the side.

"But I know that being upfront with them is the best thing to do." Kelly replied and then smiled even wider. "Besides," she squealed a little as she pulled her cell phone from her purse and took a picture of the two of them. "I think that you two look so cute together."

"I agree with Kelly," Gustavo agreed. "Except for the cute thing." He sighed as he pulled his sunglasses off of his face and looked at his friends. "I think that, to get all of this behind all of us, you should tell your kids," he pointed at Kacy. "And you kids." He pointed at Ronan. "Seeing that if you get married none of them can date anymore."

"Well, at least Noah and Riley wouldn't be able to." Ronan replied as he thought about it. He let out a heavy sigh and thought about it for a few seconds, turning to Kacy. "The two of them are right; we need to tell them tonight."

"I was hoping that we could put it off a little bit longer." Kacy admitted in reply. "But you're right," She nodded and brushed her hair behind her ears again, her hands shaking. "Telling them sooner will be better than later. It will give them a chance to get used to it."

"Well what about Kevin?" Kelly asked, raising her eyebrows. "You said that he wants to see Kendall and Katie and that they want to see him too."

Kacy shrugged. "If it's what they want I can't stop them, I just hope that he doesn't hurt them again." She smiled a little as Ronan leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"Now that we got that out of the way," Gustavo cracked his knuckles and grabbed onto Ronan's and Kacy's plates. "Are you going to eat that?" he asked seconds before he got hit in the face with balled up napkins.

* * *

Kendall whistled to himself as he strummed the guitar that was around his neck. He had just bought it while he and the others were at the mall. It was in the guitar center, staring at him, begging to be bought, and he definitely couldn't pass that up. Now he was going to use it while he and the guys went over their vocals, so they didn't get rusty on their down time before they started back on the tour again.

"Oh there you are," Kendall abruptly turned around and almost hit himself in the eye with his guitar when he heard Riley's voice behind him. "I was looking for you." She paused and gave him an odd look when she noticed how fast he turned. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"You didn't scare me," Kendall replied quickly. "I…I just…" he thought quickly. "I have a tendency to turn around too quickly when someone's talking to me." He added lamely.

"Right," Riley nodded once, although she didn't sound convinced. "New guitar?" she asked, looking at the black acoustic guitar in his hands.

"Yep," Kendall smiled proudly, ignoring the awkward small-talk the bet he could. "I just bought it. I was on my way to use it to practice with the guys."

"Oh," Riley looked stricken for a second. "I'm not interrupting you am I?"

"No, you're good." Kendall replied with a snort nod.

Riley nodded once back and then clasped her hands together. "Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Which is?" Kendall moved the guitar from his front to around his back so he could cross his arms over his chest. Riley sighed heavily and brushed her hair behind her ears.

"I wanted to say-"

"Oh good I found you," Julius said as he walked over to Riley and Kendall. His right eye narrowed slowly, showing that he had an expression of confusion. "I don't know what it's about, but Ronan just called and said that he and Mama Knight have something to tell us." He pointed over his shoulder. "They're going to be back here soon and they want us all together. The six of us and Kendall and Katie. They want to talk to us about something."

"Right now?" Kendall asked as he ran his fingers through his hair. "'Cause we-"

"Yeah," Julius nodded. "Right now."

* * *

**A/N: I had a hard time writing this chapter, so it seems more like a filler. :( I said that it was going to have more of Jo, Camille, Stephanie, and WayneWayne and it didn't. (Maybe next time). Well, I wanted to have a chapter that focused on the adults since the last ones focused on BTR, DE, and Katie. I hope that you guys liked it (even though I really didn't). Anything that you guys would like to see in the story? Do you guys think that I'm drawing out Kendall's and Riley's break-up too long? The chapters after this one will get longer.**

**Cheers,**

**-Riley**


	19. Big Time Chaos

**Chapter Nineteen – Big Time Chaos**

**

* * *

**"Hey, where'd everybody go?" WayneWayne asked when he realized that he, James, Carlos, Logan, Jo, Camille, and Stephanie were the only ones in the sitting are of Big Time Rush's hotel suite. He sat up on the couch and looked at his friends in confusion. "Didn't Kendall say that he was on his way to work with you guys on some vocals?" He asked, James, Logan, and Carlos.

"You're right," Logan stated as he looked at his watch and then looked concerned. "And he's not one to be late for anything." He rubbed his neck. "Do you think something happened?"

"Oh don't worry," Brittany stated as she walked into the hotel room, her purse over her arm. She smiled brightly. "Ronan and Mrs. Knight just wanted to talk to them about something."

"Do you know what about?" Camille asked as she brushed her hair behind her ears. Brittany shrugged, but continued to smile.

"I'm not really sure myself," she replied. "But while we're waiting for them you guys could help me." She waited to make sure she had everyone's attention before continuing. "With the wedding coming _really_ close I have to make some decisions on stuff. So I was thinking that you guys could help me with the dresses and the wedding cake and-"

"No!" James, Logan, Carlos, and WayneWayne declared in unison at the same time that Jo, Camille, and Stephanie agreed to it.

"What do you mean 'no'?" Jo demanded, placing her hands on her hips and glaring over at her boyfriend.

"I'll take this one," WayneWayne stated as he nodded towards James, Carlos, and Logan. He cleared his throat before turning back to the girls. "I'm not sure if you're aware of it, but we're _guys_." He slapped himself on the chest. "And we hate _anything _that has to do with weddings because one;" he held up a finger. "They're boring. Two; girls get unnecessarily weepy, and three; there's not much that we can actually do besides watch you girls parade around in dresses for _hours_ when it would take only five minutes for us guys to figure out what color tie to wear."

"Yeah, but I really need this," Brittany stated as she stuck out her lower lip, pleadingly. "I need to figure out what color the bridesmaids' dresses are going to be, _and_ I need to actually find _my_ wedding dress, the tuxedos need to be tailored, and I have no idea what kind of flavor the wedding cake should b-"

"Did you say cake?" Carlos perked up, his eyes widening.

"No, we don't have time for this!" Logan declared as he threw his hands into the air and looked at his watch. "We need to be onstage in three hours and we haven't gone over vocals, gotten our makeup done, _or_ made sure our in-ears are working fine."

"I promise that we'll be back in enough time," Brittany stated. "Besides, think of it as a wedding gift to me and Julius, the faster we get this done, the-"

"The more cake we can eat!" Carlos declared as he punched the air with his fist.

"Carlos!" Logan shouted over at him.

"Logie, we're doing this as a favor for a friend," James commented as he brushed his hair out of his face. "It's the least that we can do, and we _do_ have 3 hours before we have to go onstage."

"You just want to eat the wedding cake, don't you?" Stephanie stated as she crossed her arms over her chest, raising an eyebrow at her friends.

"Of course!" James looked a little offended. "It may be unhealthy but cake is cake and you don't want to miss a chance of being able to eat a lot of it when it's free!"

"And of course I'm alone on this one." Logan stated as he rolled his eyes. He sighed and looked at his watch again. "Ok, as long as we get there _and _back in three hours!"

"Great!" Brittany's eyes glowed with happiness as she clasped her hands together. "I think that it would be a good idea to get the cake first because-"

"CAKE!" Carlos shouted as he leapt to his feet. "Cake! Cake! Cake! Cake! Cake!" He chanted as he continued to jump up and down, heading out of the suite as fast as he could. Logan and James slapped their foreheads, shaking their heads as Stephanie laughed at her boyfriend.

"Is it just me, or does it seem like he hangs around Sydney too much?" Jo laughed as she went to grab her shoes.

Everyone else nodded in reply.

* * *

"Hello, my name is Judy Whitaker and I'll be helping you with your selection on the wedding cake," A short, plump woman with a gray bob and librarian glasses stated with a tight smile as Brittany and the others walked into the cake shop. Her eyes darted around. "So, which one of you are getting married?"

"That's me," Brittany stated with a smile.

"A little young, aren't you?" Judy asked, her eyes flashing a little.

"I'm 20." Brittany replied, blinking once.

"Yes, well," Judy sighed in a disapproving way. "Right this way, I can get you guys started on the many chocolate flavors that we have to offer."

"Remind me to try and not yell at her," Brittany muttered to Jo, Camille, and Stephanie. "Because I have the feeling that she is going to annoy me today." The girls laughed and followed her as James, Carlos, Logan, and WayneWayne shoved their hands into their pockets and looked uncomfortable as they followed them.

Carlos looked around the room as they were seated, looking at the many pictures of people on their wedding day and many pictures of wedding cakes that were lined around the room. His stomach growled and he let out a sound of annoyance. He knew that the little pieces of cake that they were going to eat weren't going to help his hunger, even though they had just eaten two hours ago. But he was a growing boy and he needed to eat a lot.

He twisted in his chair and continued to look around when he saw the most delicious looking five-tiered wedding cake being carried by, by three people that worked at the little shop. It had white frosting and red and purple frosted flowers all around the cake. Carlos' mouth drooled as he watched it being taken out of sight. His stomach growled even louder.

He looked back over at his friends who were talking about who knows what while they waited for the first options of the cake flavor to be passed around. Before his conscience could talk himself out of it he pushed back his chair loudly. "I'm going to go to the bathroom." He announced.

"Just make sure you don't flood the bathroom like you did last time." Was all that James said in reply.

Carlos nodded and slipped out into the hallway, careful not to make too much noise with his shoes as he tried to see where the caterers were taking the wedding cake. Finally, after sidling against walls, crawling under chairs, and holding his breath when it looked like he'd been caught, Carlos made it. There was no one in the kitchen but him and the cake. The mother of all cakes; glowing as though it had its own spotlight on it. He could've sworn that a choir was singing in the background.

Carlos wasted no time in dashing across the room to the cake. "Finally! It's all mine!" He reached out with one finger to swipe a bit of icing off, and was a mere two inches from its surface when she paused.

"Wait a second," he frowned as he talked to himself. "This isn't my cake; it's someone else's cake for _their_ wedding day, the happiest day of their lives." He frowned and tilted his head to the side. "…On the other hand…maybe, if I just take a tiny, quick lick, no one will notice." Carlos never wasted very much time when it came to his conscience. So with one swipe of his finger, he dug into the base of the cake and trailed along the side, gathering as much frosting as his finger could hold. This left a mark about four inches long.

Now, Carlos had eaten cake before, a _lot_ of cake, but those cakes didn't hold a candle to this one. How smooth, how creamy, how high his blood sugar rose the moment the icing was in his mouth. Time melted out of his mind as one lick turned to two, two to four, four to eight, eight to sixteen…

By the time he was finished, the cake was almost halfway gone. It didn't even look like a cake anymore. Carlos lay on top of the table, his face and the front of his clothes smeared with crumbs and icing. He held his bloated stomach and groaned in pain.

"Oh men…how can something so good feel so bad?" He moaned and then burped loudly. Using all the strength he could muster, Carlos sat up and looked around for some kind of relief for his stomachache. Looking around, Carlos noticed a bottle of ginger ale and grinned before he went over to grab it. He looked at the cork for a second and then grabbed it with his teeth. He turned his head to the side and started to pull. Nothing. Carlos took a deep breath and tried again, this time swerving his head from side to side to loosen it. His eyes widened when he felt the cork shift out of position.

"Yes!" He cried as he grabbed the cork in his hands and pulled it out.

The bottle gushed like a geyser, splattering liquid all over Carlos's clothes and launching the cork up into the air. Carlos looked up to see where the cork went then it came shooting back down, hitting him on the nose. "Ouch!" He cried and cupped his hands over his face. He felt something warm fall onto his hands and pulled them away, looking at it; his expression changing from confused to horrified.

"AH! I-I'm bleeding! I'm bleeding! 9-1-1! 9-1-1! I'm bleeding!" He shouted and then ran out of the kitchen and back to the area that his friends were sitting.

Logan, James, and WayneWayne were sitting with their heads on the table, frosting lining their lips and a hand on their stomach. Like Carlos, they had eaten too much cake, and surprisingly, had gone on a sugar high for a few minutes, causing them to eat even more cake. Jo, Camille, Stephanie, and Brittany had watched them in horror as they started giggling and laughing for no reason. They eventually stopped after eating two samples. The woman that was helping them must have been annoyed by the boys as she just sat behind the counter, waiting.

"Ok, you guys sit here, I'm going to go tell her what flavor I decided on," Brittany stated slowly as she pushed her chair back and stood up. "Make sure they don't go anywhere," she stated and then raised an eyebrow. "Or puke on anything."

"No problem," Jo replied and looked at her watch. "Hey, Carlos has been in the bathroom for a long time."

"I was thinking the same thing," Camille stated as she looked around as well. "I hope he didn't accidentally overflow the toilet or anything." She and Stephanie started to laugh, but then their laughter faded when they saw Carlos hurry back over to them, his hands over his nose, the front of his shirt wet, and bits of frosting on his shirt as well.

"Carlos," Stephanie stated to her boyfriend as she looked at him with wide eyes. "What happened to you?"

WayneWayne lifted his head from the table and smiled a little when he saw his friend. "I would laugh," he stated and swallowed thickly. "But then I would be afraid that I'm going to throw up all of the cake that I just ate."

"I'm bleeding! I'm bleeding!" Carlos cried, moving his hands from his face. "Someone call 9-1-1! I _hate_ blood!" Logan sighed as he stood up, holding a hand over his stomach. He placed a hand on Carlos' shoulder and held him still.

"9-1-1 isn't going to care that you have a nosebleed," He explained gently. "They only need to be called for _real_ emergencies." He placed a finger on Carlos' forehead and pushed his head back. "Now keep your head tilted back and stop talking."

"Carlos, what happened to your shirt?" James asked as he sat up, making sure that he didn't have any frosting in his hair. He burped loudly and let out a sigh of relief as the bloated feeling in his stomach went away. Jo glared over at him and punched him on the arm. "Ow! What was that for?"

"For being such a guy." She replied.

"I _am_ a guy, babe, I can't help that." James replied with a charming smile. Jo tried to stay mad at him but she couldn't help but smile back at him.

"Carlos," WayneWayne slowly lifted his head from the table, pushing his plate of cake away from him and looked at the helmet-clad boy with narrowed eyes. "You didn't go and eat that other wedding cake did you?" Carlos' eyes widened, although no one could see as he had his head tilted back, and he shuffled his feet. Getting no answer was answer enough. "CARLOS!" He shouted along with Camille, Jo, Stephanie, James, and Logan.

"I'm sorry." Carlos cried as he jumped at their shout. "It just looked so good and I _had_ to try it! It was taunting me!"

"Yeah, and now Karma is going to be flirting with you because Gustavo is going to kick your ass after he finds out what happened." Camille stated as she shook her head. "Because _he's _going to be the one that has to pay for it."

"Not unless the cooks don't find out." Carlos replied with a sheepish smile.

"WHO ATE THE MCPHERSON'S WEDDING CAKE!"

"Oh, they're going to find out." Stephanie commented with a snort, as she shook her head.

"What are we going to do?" Logan asked, frantically. He looked at his watch again. "We only have less than two hours to get back and to be on stage and we have to go and apologize to the cooks and make it up to them somehow-"

"Who says we have to?" WayneWayne asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"So what you're telling me is that your conscience would be completely clear if we just ran out on those chefs?" Logan asked as he raised his eyebrows at his friends. "The ones that had just spend so long trying to make sure that this wedding cake was perfect for the couple that was getting married."

"You're forgetting that they wield long and sharp knives," WayneWayne pointed out. "So I'm ok with it."

"What's going on?" Brittany asked slowly as she walked over to them. Her eyes zeroed in on Carlos. "Carlos, what happened to your shirt…" he voice trailed off and her eyes widened. "You ate that other wedding cake didn't you?" she hissed.

"Now I can understand why you're marrying Julius," Camille stated with a fond smile. "You two are really good when it comes to figuring out what someone has done."

"Fortunately, I've had a lot of practice." Brittany stated with a small smile and looked around before hitching her purse up her shoulder. "Ok, since I'm sure that _no one_ has enough money to pay for it, I say that we, _very slowly_, sneak out of here."

"You too?" Logan looked very annoyed at this point. "I can't believe that you're just going to skip out on-"

"Do you not realize that they have _very_ sharp knives and are _very_ angry?" Brittany stated, interrupting Logan. "Besides, you have to learn to live a little." With that, she looked around the room and slowly, yet casually, walked to the door, before hurrying outside. Logan sighed loudly as the others did the same thing.

Logan muttered a curse to himself as he looked around and then followed after them. "Guys!" He called when he saw that they were already halfway down the street. "Wait up!"

Camille turned around to face him and he saw her eyes widen as well as her mouth dropping open. "Logan!" She shrieked. "Run faster!" Behind her, Jo, Stephanie, James, Carlos, WayneWayne, and Brittany all turned and started running as fast as they could.

"What the?" Logan slowed down and looked over his shoulder to see two chefs all dressed in white with the large hats, as well as angry looks on their faces, holding large knives above their heads. Logan screamed and started running as well. "I've got to get new friends!" He shouted as he ran.

* * *

Kendall was in a daze as he walked back to the hotel room that he and his friends were sharing. They weren't going to believe it when he told them. His mother and Ronan were dating? There was nothing really wrong with that as he had seen his mother date before, but just not someone that he knew.

'_What if they get married_?' he asked himself as he continued to walk slowly, his eyes straight ahead and his guitar still around his neck and shoulders. '_That means that Katie and I would be step-brother and sister to the Jacksons. I don't think that they would be able to handle having seven kids at once, since they don't really have to worry about Julius and Brittany._' Another thought entered his head. '_That means that Noah and Katie wouldn't be able to date anymore. Neither would Riley and I. Not that she wants to anyway_.'

"_I was going to apologize for everything that we fought about, and I still am apologizing. But I was also going to ask if you thought that we should try again. But now I'm not going to. As much as I want to date you again, Hockey-Head…Kendall, I want Ronan to be happy as well. And, well, I find it kind of odd to be dating when our parents are dating. But I hope we can still be friends?"_

"Of course we can still be friends," Kendall muttered to himself, repeating the words that he had said to Riley moments before he had left to go find his friends. "I would rather be your friend then nothing at all." He snorted and rolled his eyes. "Yeah right." He ran his hands through his hair and sighed heavily before continuing to the room. "Hey guys," he called as he pushed open the door and walked inside. "Do I have something to tell you." He stopped walking and frowned when he noticed that the room was empty. "Guys?" he called again and put his guitar aside as he walked the room.

He went into each of the bedrooms and even went down and checked the pool, still frowning in confusion the whole way. "Where'd they go?" he looked at his watch. "We have to go on soon." He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and looked at it, to make sure he hadn't missed any calls or texts before bringing up James' number and calling it.

"_Hello?" _he could hear James' breathless voice.

"James?" Kendall moved the phone from his ear looked at it, to make sure that he called the right number, before he put it back to his ear. "Where are you guys? And why are you breathing so funny?"

"_Oh, we're just running down the streets of New York getting chased by two angry chefs of a wedding cake that Carlos ate." _James stated as casually as possible. _"Other than that, not much."_

"What?" Kendall laughed a little. "You're joking right?" In the background he could hear Carlos' famous high-pitched scream and blaring car horns.

"_Does it sound like I'm joking?"_

"But, we have to go onstage in like, an hour, and-"

"_Just stall for us," _James pleaded. _"We're going to try and get to the Rockefeller Center as soon as we can, but by judging this it looks like traffic is going to be pretty bad. Just let Gustavo know what's going on and we'll be there as soon as we can."_

"You _do_ know that Gustavo is probably going to kill me for this." Kendall replied to his friend, annoyance and a sense of hysteria starting to fill his body. "You know that right?"

"_And it was nice knowing you, buddy." _James replied and hung up.

"Hockey Pucks!" Kendall spat as he snapped his phone closed.

* * *

"WHAT?" Gustavo shouted, causing the makeup bottles on the counters in the dressing room for Big Time Rush to rattle and crash to the floor. Kendall winced as Gustavo grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him forward. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY'RE BEING CHASED DOWN THE STREETS BY A BUNCH OF KNIFE-WEILDING CHEFS?" He started to shake Kendall back and forth, causing Kendall's head to bounce around. "THEY HAVE TO BE ONSTAGE IN _TEN_ MINUTES!"

"Idiots!" Katie declared as she shook her head.

She had gone to find Kendall after the news of her mother and Ronan were dating had been dropped. Katie didn't know how to react to it and was going to talk to Kendall about it and when she found him he told her what was going on. Katie didn't believe it at first, but when they, the Jacksons, Ronan, and their mother headed over to the Rockefeller Center, where Gustavo and Kelly were waiting, she knew that he was telling them the truth when he continued to tell them the story.

Kendall let out a cry of shock as Gustavo shoved him away from him, causing him to stumble back onto a couch that was in the center of the room. "What are we going to do?" Gustavo asked as he grabbed onto his hair, pacing back and forth. "I'm ruined! If Griffin finds out about this he's going to be even more annoying than he was before." Gustavo started to panic himself.

"Well, maybe we can stall the show." Kelly suggested as she bit her thumbnail. "I mean, how much time do you think they have?"

"Well that depends," Kendall stated as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"On what?" Kelly and Gustavo snapped in unison.

"Well, we haven't been to New York before and I'm sure that they have no clue where they're going." Kendall replied, causing Gustavo to start to pace again. He looked up as the Jacksons and Ronan trooped into the room, looking as worried as they were. "Well?" he asked.

"Just go at call from Logie," Rhuben stated as she held up her phone to prove it. "He said that they have gotten taxis to take them to the Rockefeller Center, but the concert is so big that there are people everywhere as well as there being a lot of traffic." She made a face. "And then something about tires being slashed." She shrugged. "I don't know, but I don't think that they're going to be to get here in time for the show."

"Well, how much time do you guys have to be able to push it back?" Kacy asked as she ran her fingers through her hair. "I mean, we pushed the show back a half-hour already, what's another one?"

"The fact that the fans could get so mad that they could start a rampage?" Julius shrugged as Ronan looked over at him sharply. "Just a guess." He stated with a half-smile. "But whatever we do we've going to have to decide now. If the fans get mad they're going to complain about there being a bad show and that could affect us _and _Big Time Rush."

"Oh we're done for!" Gustavo continued to wail.

"Gustavo, knock it off!" Kelly cried and slapped him on the back of the head. "Just don't panic and we'll think of something."

"Well, if you really think about it, there's only one thing that we can do." Sydney commented as she pulled himself into one of the makeup chairs and looked at his reflection, moving the baseball cap that he was wearing on his head, around to the back so his hair was sticking out of the hole.

"Act like everyone got amnesia and that we don't know that there's even supposed to be a concert today?" Patrick asked dryly. "Because I doubt that that would work."

"That was one of your dumbest ideas to date." Riley commented as she made a face.

"I hope you weren't even seriously considering that." Noah added. Patrick rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"No," Sydney made a face as he looked at his mohawked brother before turning back to everyone else, a small smile on his face, light indents appearing in his cheeks. "We're going to be the opening band, and Big Time Rush is going to be the ending of the concert." He was greeted with silence and he pouted a little. "I may be 10, but I know what I'm talking about. We don't really have a choice here."

"Yeah, we _do_ have a choice," Noah stated as he placed his hands on his hips. "I mean, in ten minutes we have to get our makeup done, our hair done, run through vocals, do last minute checks on our instruments, make sure our props are where they need to be, and run over our set list." He smiled. "But for our friends I think we can handle it."

"Especially if we take out our set list and just perform any song that comes to mind." Patrick added with a grin. "Let's do it!" He punched the air with his first and he and Noah high-fived. Sydney grinned, so his dimples appeared in his cheeks.

"Wait, so what am I going to do?" Kendall asked as he raised his eyebrows. "You know, apart from worrying that Gustavo is going to kill me for letting my friends go out and do this when I should have known that somehow they were going to get in trouble."

"Hey, they're our friends too," Rhuben pointed out as she placed her hands on her hips. "And somehow, something tells me that it was Carlos that got everyone into this whole mess, but that James and WayneWayne weren't that far behind in hurting them."

"I wouldn't put it past them." Kendall agreed.

"What you two need to do," Riley paused for a second. "If you don't mind not watching the concert that is, is help us backstage, with our props and costume changes and whatnot." She ran her fingers through her hair and smiled. "I mean, they've done so much for us, we can do this favor for them."

"Sounds cool!" Katie grinned and threw her arms around Patrick's and Noah's shoulders. "Plus it would help on my resume whenever I become someone's manager." She turned and grinned at her brother. "What do you say, Big Bro?"

"I'm in!" Kendall agreed with a smile himself.

"Yeah," Julius spoke up as he shook his head. "But what about Syd?" He looked over at Ronan and saw the concerned expression on his father's face and knew that he was thinking the same thing that he was. "It's already 8 o'clock and we don't know how long that he can go before he gets tired. I mean, we're already running on strange hours and we don't want him to fall asleep on stage."

"Don't worry about me," Sydney replied firmly. "I want to help my friends and I'm going to help them even if I'm running on my second, third, or fourth wind."

"You're not going to try and stop him?" Kacy asked as she turned to Ronan, who smiled, looking amused.

"Once he puts his mind to something, there's no changing it," Ronan replied as he ran his hands over his face. "He can be really stubborn sometimes."

"It's a trait that all of you have," Gustavo stated and paused. "That annoy me. But hey I need Big Time Rush to go one and I can't have them go on if three of them, who have the brains the size of crickets, aren't here. So go! GO, GO, GO, you only have five minutes!"

"C'mon, we have to really quickly show you where everything is." Patrick stated and he and his brothers and sisters led Katie and Kendall out of Big Time Rush's dressing room as Ronan and Julius pulled their headphones and head mics up to their ears to talk to the stage crew.

"Do you think this is going to work?" Kelly asked as she turned to Gustavo with an expression of worry.

"No," Gustavo replied as he shook his head. "This is going to crash and burn in our faces."

Kelly rolled her eyes.

* * *

Kendall took a deep breath as he grabbed the microphone that Julius handed him and walked out onstage. He smiled and waved as the audience's cheers went up into a roar. Kendall looked back over his shoulder and smiled again, making sure his in-ears were set perfectly before bringing the microphone up to his mouth.

"Hey guys," he greeted and was met with another wave of screams. "How are you?" More screams. "That's great, I'm doing well to. Um, we're going to get started but first I have to tell you something." He paused and took a breath. "Due to technical difficulties," he slightly moved the microphone away from his mouth. "And due to the fact that my friends are idiots, "he moved the microphone up to his mouth again. "We're going to do this concert differently, instead of me and my friends starting it out, the DarkElements are going to be the opening act. So without further adieu, here are my very good friends, the DarkElements!"

He swept his arm to the side and quickly hurried off stage as smoke machines went off and lights started to flash. Katie smiled at him as he joined her. "Nice job, bro." she stated. "I don't think anybody in the audience thinks that anything is wrong now."

"Shut up." Kendall laughed back in reply and looked at his watch. "C'mon, we need to check to see if the props for their next song is set out where they're supposed to be."

"I already did," Katie replied with a nod. "Two times, actually." She reached into her pocket and pulled out her brother's cell phone. "You got a text from Logan."

Kendall grabbed his phone and quickly navigated to his inbox to read the text message. "He says that they're going to be here soon, the traffic has let up and they're going to try and make it as fast as they can without speeding." Kendall made a face. "Of course he would worry about breaking the law at a time like this."

"After being chased down the streets by some crazed bakers, I don't blame him." Katie remarked. She watched as Patrick said something into his microphone, waiting for his brothers and sisters to get ready and to tune their instruments. She smiled and blushed a little as Noah smiled and waved over to her before getting his drumsticks ready.

"You're still going out with him?" Kendall asked as he turned to his sister. Katie looked at him with raised eyebrows, silently asking him to elaborate. "I mean, since mom and Ronan are dating, you're still…hanging out, or dating I don't know, Noah?"

"Well, it's not like Ronan and mom are getting married or anything." Katie shrugged and looked at her feet. "And I don't really know what Noah and I are, I like hanging out with him and I like hanging out with Patrick too. I mean, we haven't gone on an actual date yet. But I don't really mind."

"Hm," Kendall muttered in reply and focused back on the concert again.

Noah adjusted where he was sitting on the stool behind the drums and clacked his drumsticks together six times to signal to his brothers and sisters the beat of the song. As soon as they started playing the song, Patrick, Riley, and Rhuben jumped high into the air, striking the first chord which signaled the beginning of the song. Patrick grinned over at Riley as she stopped playing the guitar to hold onto the microphone as she sang.

"You're hiding something cuz it's burning through your eyes." She sang, holding onto the microphone and closing her eyes so she could revel in the moment of the concert and the sound of the crowd. "I try to get it out but all I hear from you are lies." She grabbed her guitar and started to play again as Patrick and Rhuben repeatedly jumped up and down to the beat of the song. "And I can tell you're going through the motions I figured you were acting out your part. Once again we're playing off emotion. Which one of us will burn until the end?"

Rhuben and Patrick moved to the microphones that were in front of them, and Sydney pulled the microphone that was on top of his piano/synthesizer/DJ table to his mouth so they could sing into it. Noah's microphone by the drum set was already pulled to his mouth level, so all he had to do was scoot forward on his stool.

"Catalyst, you insist to pull me down. You contradict the fact that you still want me around. And it's all downhill from here. And it's all downhill from here" The five of them sang. Sydney, who was towards the back of the stage, smiled as he sang, watching the crowd scream and cheer for them, his eyes moving around the arena.

As the second verse started up, Riley and Patrick moved away from the microphones. Patrick stopped playing the bass as Riley kept going. Rhuben stopped playing her guitar and moved up to the center microphone.

"Your good intentions slowly turned to bitterness" she sang into the microphone, holding onto the stand as she moved forward, and touched her free hand with the girls and boys who were in the front row."

"Turn to bitterness" Noah repeated and smiled at the cheering when he started to sing.

"Reoccurring episodes with each and every kiss" Rhuben sang and the crowd cheered even louder when Riley and Patrick moved over to a microphone and Riley kissed her brother on the cheek.

"Let's go!" Patrick screamed into the microphone and jumped away from it as his fingers flew over the frets of the bass guitar and Rhuben started playing again.

"And I can tell you're going through the motions." She sang, moving her purple hair out of her face quickly. "I figured you were acting out your part. Once again we're playing off emotion. Which one of us will burn until the end?" Rhuben sang and Riley and Patrick moved to share a microphone as they sang the chorus.

"Catalyst, you insist to pull me down. You contradict the fact that you still want me around. And it's all downhill from here. And it's all downhill from here" The five of them sang and smiled at the crowd.

Riley, Patrick, and Rhuben turned their backs to the audience and bent down on one knee so the audience could see Sydney and Noah when they sang their parts of the song, still playing their guitars.

"And I can't believe you pulled it off again. Or notice till it all sets in. You'll deny it till you're at your bitter end" Noah and Sydney sang in unison and Riley, Patrick, and Rhuben jumped and did a flip, still playing their guitars as they played the next chord to the song and started to jump around.

"And I can tell you're going through the motions. I figured you were acting out your part. Once again we're playing off emotion. Which one of us will burn until the end?" Sydney sang, closing his eyes as he sang into the microphone. As he finished singing, he opened his eyes, looked at Noah and smiled, giving him a small nod.

"Catalyst, you insist to pull me down. You contradict the fact that you still want me around. And it's all downhill from here. And it's all downhill from here." Noah sang as he stopped playing the drums, Riley had a small solo, and stood up behind the drum set as Patrick moved up to the center microphone, holding his arms above his head.

"And you keep pulling me down" He screamed. As soon as he sang 'down', Riley, Rhuben, Noah, and Sydney all did a back flip, playing another chord, the audience was screaming loudly as Riley and Rhuben moved to the center microphone that Patrick backed away from.

"Pulling me down, pulling me down" Riley and Rhuben sang in unison.

"You contradict the fact that you still want me around" Patrick, Noah, and Sydney sang in unison.

"And it's all downhill from here. And it's all downhill from here" they sang in unison and finished the song.

The Jacksons moved through as many songs as they could with the help of Kendall and Katie, mentally panicking when their friends still hadn't shown up after an hour and a half. Finally, when they were going through an encore of All Downhill From Here, Patrick looked over to the side of the stage and saw Katie and Kendall frantically waving to get his attention. He moved his eyes up and saw that Logan, James, and Carlos were behind them, waving as well.

Patrick nodded back and looked over at Riley and Rhuben, who nodded back, letting him know that they had seen them too. They finished the song and picked up their microphones off of their stands and walked to the front of the stage.

"Thank you guys so much for coming out tonight!" Rhuben said into her microphone breathlessly.

"Especially when you had to wait so long for it to start." Patrick added.

"And for those of you that had camped out for _hours_ to get tickets to our show." Noah added. "That's awesome. Thank you for that. And we're sorry for the last minute change of the concert."

"But we hope that you guys enjoyed it as much as we did." Riley added.

"Now, without further ado, we would like to introduce our friends," Sydney grinned into his microphone. "The four guys that have helped us so much in the past that we decided to switch around the order of performing to help them as well. Give it up for-"

"Big Time Rush!" Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney called in unison and headed offstage where the others were waiting to go on as the audience screamed even louder than they had for the DarkElements.

"Thanks so much for doing this guys," James stated with a grin. "You're absolutely awesome!"

"What're friends for?" The Jacksons chorused in reply.

"So," Julius got their attention and they turned and looked at Brittany with raised eyebrows, arms folded across their chests the same way that Julius was standing. "How in the world was it that you guys got chased by angry bakers around New York City?"

"It's a long story." Brittany replied with a heavy sigh and a smile.

* * *

**A/N: Wow 21 reviews for the last chapter, thanks so much you guys! I'm trying not to make this focus on Kendall's relationship with Riley, so I make it focus on other things as well as mentioning it here and there; I hope I'm doing a good job with it. Next chapter has everyone during Christmas. And of course with the guys things will go comically wrong (just like this chapter). After that they're off to Australia. By the next chapter the story is half-way over and I feel like I've gone through a lot of stuff but not enough. I'll update again soon. While you're waiting please check out my stories 'You Know You've Done Wrong' and 'Big Time Weekend' as well as the story that Rhuben and I are both writing called 'Big Time Boarding School'. Thanks!**

**Cheers,**

**-Riley**

**PS – Would you guys be interested in reading an ff where it goes through every episode of the show, but if our characters were in the show as well?**


	20. Big Time Christmas

**Chapter Twenty – Big Time Christmas**

**A/N: This is a funnier chapter that has to do more with Christmas Eve than Christmas Day, but I hope that you guys like it anyway.**

**

* * *

-Christmas Eve-**

"Yum that was the best food that I've ever eaten!" Carlos stated as he rubbed his stomach with one hand. The other was holding onto Stephanie's and they were swinging their arms back and forth as they walked. Carlos looked up and noticed Mrs. Knight's pointed look towards him. "I mean, it's good, but it _can't_ beat the food that Mama Knight constantly cooks because she loves us so much."

"Nice save," Stephanie commented sarcastically before leaning over and kissing his cheek.

They were all walking back from having lunch at a nearby restaurant. It was Christmas Eve and everybody was definitely excited for the holiday and for the break before they went to Australia for the second part of the tour. No one was as excited as the Jacksons though, like last time they were in Australia (when they had gone for their nomination for an ARIA) they were planning as much stuff to do with their friends as they could when they weren't working.

"Alright, who wants to come with us to find a Christmas tree?" Julius asked as he and Brittany stopped walking. Julius looked up and gently tugged his fiancée out of the way of someone that tried to pass their big group on the street. "I know that the hotel says that they don't allow trees in there, but there are no decorations at all and you can't have a Christmas without decorations."

"Me!" Katie and Sydney shouted at the same time, shoving their hands into the air.

"Have you all finished your Christmas shopping yet?" Ronan asked as he raised his eyebrows. He laughed when he saw some of them shift their feet, not wanting to answer, and not wanting to spend hours trying to figure out what to get for everyone else. "Ok how about this, Kacy and I will go and get a Christmas tree and Kelly and Gustavo will-"

"Actually, I haven't finished my Christmas shopping either," Kacy spoke up and looked apologetic. "I've been so busy lately I haven't gotten gifts for Kendall and Katie yet."

"Take all the time you want!" Katie said, perking up instantly at the sound of getting a gift.

"Yeah," Kendall agreed, with a series of nods as well as a grin. "We're in no hurry. Just remember that I need a new hockey jersey." He added in a stage whisper.

"Thanks for the hint," Kacy replied sarcastically although she was laughing, her breath coming out in fogs of condensation. "Ok, who wants to-"

"Who cares?" Rhuben snapped, her arms crossed over her chest and even though she was wearing heavy winter coat she was freezing. "It's cold and I'll do whatever it is that will get us to the hotel faster!"

"I'm with her," Riley agreed, standing close to her sister, resting her head on her shoulder. "Let's get the show on the road." She frowned, but couldn't help but smile when everyone else started to laugh at her.

"Ok, everyone that still has to do Christmas shopping goes with Kelly and Kacy," Ronan stated loudly. "Everyone else that is finished and wants to come help get a Christmas tree is coming with me, Gustavo, and Julius and Brittany."

"Why am _I_ helping you with the Christmas tree?" Gustavo grumbled as Riley, Rhuben, Logan, Kendall, James, WayneWayne, and Katie moved over to him, Julius, Brittany, and Ronan. "I mean, it's not like we can't let all of them do the labor for us."

"Because you're the stronger one," Kelly replied as if it was obvious. She brushed her hair out of her face as Patrick, Noah, Sydney, Jo, Camille, Carlos, and Stephanie moved over to her and Kacy. Gustavo sucked in a breath and glared over at his assistant.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" He demanded.

"If we need someone to chop down a tree we'll get you to do it," Ronan replied under his breath. "Ok!" He stated loudly. "We'll meet back at the hotel in…two hours?" He looked at his watch and then up and Kelly and Kacy, they nodded back. "Cool, let's go, I think we should start at some of the tree lots before we try and chop down one of our own."

"If it gets that far at least." Brittany replied and the two girls split up and started walking off in two different directions. "Have you ever chopped down a tree before?" she asked Julius. Julius looked at her as if she was crazy.

"You know that there are hardly any Christmas trees back home," he replied with a raised eyebrow. "Besides, we're all allergic so we usually get a fake one." He wrapped an arm around Brittany's shoulders and pulled her close to his side. "I thought you knew that."

"I forgot," Brittany replied, rolling her eyes.

"Uh-Oh," Ronan stopped walking and bit his lower lip. "I forgot that you guys were allergic, too."

"We could always get a fake one," Logan offered as he raised and lowered one shoulder. "I mean, how much could they cost?"

"I would rather we risk them dying," Gustavo muttered back. "Since I can't do what I want to do during Christmas," he looked around. "Which is to get away from the lot of you, we should at least do something else that will make me happy."

"Would you like to go to jail?" WayneWayne shot back as he raised his eyebrows.

"He's been in jail before," James replied with a chuckle.

"Oh yeah," Kendall laughed as well. "When he and Kelly destroyed Matthew McConaughey's mailbox," He sighed at the memory and then frowned. "Should have known that their incarceration wouldn't have lasted that long."

"Keep talking, dog, and you'll be eating outside for dinner." Gustavo shot back sharply.

"Its fine," Rhuben held up her hands so everyone would stop yelling at each other. "We'll just take our medicine and be fine." She raised and lowered one shoulder. "It's not like we're going to send you to court to make sure that you don't get a real one."

"No, but I'm now a bit more afraid of Gustavo." Riley stated as she looked the music producer up and down warily.

"You mean you weren't before?" Ronan stated sarcastically and ducked out of the way when Gustavo tried to hit him in the back of the head. "Just kidding." He nodded down the street where there was a Christmas tree lot nearby. "Let's start there."

"Kendall, Kendall," Katie slapped her brother's arm as she pointed towards a large ever green. "How about that one?" She cried and ran over to it, looking it up and down before she turned back to her brother with wide, glowing eyes. "This one is perfect."

Rhuben twisted her mouth to the side as she followed the others over to the tree and tilted her head to the side as she looked at it herself. "What kind of things do you usually look for when it comes to getting a tree?" Rhuben asked as she ran her hands through her hair. "I mean, it's just a tree."

"It's not _just a tree _as you have sardonically stated it," Logan replied as he turned to his girlfriend with a raised eyebrow. "It's a Christmas tree."

"Yes, I am pretty sure that we have already established that." Riley stated as she shoved her hands into her coat pockets and rocked back and forth on her feet as Julius, Brittany, Ronan, and Gustavo went to see the trees on the other side of the lot. "But what's so special about this tree?"

"Are you kidding?" James gestured to the tree himself. "It's perfect!"

"Then what makes it so different from that tree?" Riley asked as he pointed to one over her shoulder.

"Or that one?" Rhuben added as she pointed to another one right next to the one Katie had picked out.

"You've never had the experience of picking out a tree haven't you?" WayneWayne asked incredulously. He blinked when everyone looked at him. "Well, neither have I, because I didn't live in a place where they generally didn't have them." He admitted after a second. "But we did vacation up in the mountains sometimes so I went with my mom, dad, and my sisters to go pick out a tree." He paused again. "Well, I generally just played around in the snow, but-"

"Dude," Katie interrupted. "Quit while you're behind." She advised and rolled her eyes.

"So what's so special about it?" Rhuben asked, continuing to stare at the tree.

"Ok, you obviously don't get this." Logan stated, looking amused.

Actually, he was happy to be able to try and explain some of his and his friends' traditions about Christmas. It was his favorite time of year, the time where he got to spend time with his family and friends, opening presents, playing games, eating lots of food, and staying in their pajamas all day. It started in second grade, Carlos and Kendall came up with the tradition for the four of them that they would stay in their pajamas all Christmas long and they had done it ever since. James was fine with it because he always wanted an excuse to show off his pajamas, Carlos never really liked getting dressed when it was a day off, but Logan was the last one to be convinced. He always thought that you had to be presentable on a day when your family and guests were coming by, but after trying it one year he was on the bandwagon as well.

"And I'm pretty sure that you're going to tell us, right?" Riley guessed with an amused look in her eye, causing Katie, Kendall, James, and WayneWayne to laugh, knowing that she was right. Logan never missed a chance to tell people everything he knew about a topic.

"A Christmas tree, also known as a Yule tree," Logan started his explanation. "Is a decorated evergreen coniferous tree, real or artificial, and a tradition associated with the celebration of Christmas." He grinned as he continued to explain. "The tradition of decorating an evergreen tree at Christmas started in Livonia and Germany in the 16th century and-"

"You can stop now, Wikipedia." Rhuben smirked. "I get the point." She held up a hand to get him to stop talking. "Now, we'll," she motioned to her sister and herself. "Just follow you guys and try to soak up this whole Christmas Tree experience." She added sarcastically.

"You're being sarcastic aren't you?" Katie smiled as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Of course." Rhuben replied and placed her hands on Katie's shoulders. "How about you help me and Riley understand why people go so nuts about Christmas trees, and you guys," she turned to James, Kendall, WayneWayne, and Logan. "Can go and pick one out."

Across the lot, Julius, Brittany, Ronan were _trying _to pick a tree, but Gustavo had found a fault in almost every one that they had chosen and they were the stupidest reasons ever; there weren't enough branches, some of them were too brown, it wasn't a perfect triangle; you wouldn't be able to hold a lot of decorations on them.

"IT'S A CHRISTMAS TREE, NOT A PINATA!" Ronan finally shouted as he threw his arms into the air. "Just _pick one _so we can get it back to the hotel so we can all move on with our lives!"

"I think Ronan has finally cracked." Julius stated as he raised his eyebrows, shaking his head. "I knew that it was going to happen eventually, but I figured it would have been _after _our wedding." He laughed as he watched Gustavo and Ronan argue loudly. "Man, I don't understand how they can be friends if all they ever do is fight."

"Well, that was the same thing with you and me." Brittany commented as she looked at him funny. "Do you not remember that you were always making fun of me for absolutely no reason?" She raised an eyebrow s she crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Julius with a stern expression.

"Excuse me?" Julius replied. "It was _you _that made fun of me." He grinned charmingly. "But then again, it proved the fact that girls always make fun of guys to show them that they like them." He moved forward and kissed his fiancé. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Brittany replied and kissed him back.

"Hey," Gustavo barked, turning away from Ronan. "Aren't you guys supposed to be helping us pick out the tree?" Ronan sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "The faster we can get the tree, the faster this day will be over, so it will be Christmas and I can sit on my butt eating as much food as I want while watching football."

"Don't you already do that?" Ronan shot back sarcastically.

"Stuff it, Ronan" Gustavo warned.

"And this is when we need Kelly around," Julius stated as he rolled his eyes. "To make sure that those two stop fighting so we actually get something done here."

"I heard that!" Ronan and Gustavo shouted back towards the two of them.

"Hey," Kendall called as he and the others walked over to them. "We found a really great tree," he grinned. "We just need to tell the guy that we're going to take it and get it back to the hotel."

"Great," Ronan and Gustavo replied sharply.

"That's great." Brittany smiled and after a second it slowly started to fade. "So here's a question." Brittany stated after a second of silence. "How are we going to get this into the hotel when they're not allowed to have trees in your room?" Everyone stopped and looked at each other before looking over at Kendall.

"Don't worry," he sighed as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I'll think of something."

* * *

"Jo, can I get your help on something?" Noah asked quietly as the group walked down the crowded sidewalks. He pulled her back a little bit, so no one else could hear their conversation.

"Yeah, Noah, what's up?" Jo asked with a smile as she brushed her hair behind her ears. "Are you having trouble figuring out what to get Katie for Christmas?"

"How could you tell?" Noah asked, his eyes widening slightly. He blushed a little and looked at his feet, not letting Jo get a chance to answer. "Was it that obvious? I don't know what to get her because, well, she's not really my girlfriend, but she kind of is. We haven't really gone on a date, but we hang out a lot, and-"

"Noah, I get your point," Jo laughed as she mussed his hair. "You can stop rambling; I know that it's hard." She paused and thought for a second. "What did Patrick get her?"

"A new DS," Noah replied, looking a little miserable. "Which is annoying, because she loves video games and it would be something that she would really want." He then smiled, although he looked like he didn't want to. "But if it were the other way around I probably would have done the same thing so I can't blame him."

"Well, what did you get her for her birthday, again?" Jo asked, scratching her forehead.

"Patrick and I both got her a necklace." Noah replied, smiling at the memory.

"Ok, well, then you can't go wrong with jewelry," Jo commented as she raised a finger to her chin as she thought. "Or make her something." She twisted her mouth to the side as she thought about what she just said. "Which probably isn't plausible since we haven't bought anything in a long time." She nodded. "So, yeah, get her a bracelet."

"What did you get James for Christmas?" Noah asked as he furrowed his eyebrows together.

"I got him a new shirt and a new wallet." Jo replied with a grin and rolled her eyes a little. "Anything that could keep him from looking in the mirror too long." She and Noah started laughing. "Come on," she started to walk faster. "Let's catch up with the others." Noah nodded and followed her.

"Wait, guys, let's go in here!" Carlos stopped walking and pointed up to the sign of the building they were standing in front of. _Macy_'s.

"I'm not going in there." Patrick declared.

"Why?" Kelly asked with a laugh. "Don't tell me you're afraid of going into a 'girly store'" she said the words using air quotes.

"I'm not that sexist," Patrick replied quickly and shook his head. "It's not that," he replied. "It's just that I don't want to have to worry about being killed by all of them women that are in there doing last minute Christmas shopping." He started shaking.

"Can I ask you something?" Kacy asked gently and continued when Patrick nodded. "How was Christmas when you dad was still around?" Jo, Camille, Stephanie, and Carlos waited quietly as Patrick, Noah, and Sydney looked back at them. It was Sydney that spoke up.

"They weren't great," he admitted with a sigh. "We only got one gift each and they were usually things that he had but he didn't want anymore." He shrugged and then smiled. "But, that's the past, and we're not spending Christmas with our friends." He moved forward and grabbed on to Jo's and Camille's hands. "Let's go shopping."

"Those are the words that every girl wants to hear!" Camille declared as she punched the air, letting out a 'whoo' as well before she and Jo rushed into the store, dragging Sydney along with them.

"Poor kid," Carlos sighed as he shook his head. "He never stood a chance.

Stephanie, Patrick, Noah, Kelly, and Kacy laughed.

* * *

"Ok, so all you girls have to do is distract the guy at the front desk, and the rest of us will sneak in the tree." Kendall whispered quietly as he looked over his shoulder at the man that was sitting at the front desk of the hotel lobby. "And then we're in the clear.

"Why don't we just go in with the tree?" Katie suggested, looking at her brother as if he was crazy. "I mean, it's Christmas, I don't think that he would really care if someone breaks a few rules just to decorate our hotel room."

"Yeah, we're not doing that." Kendall replied after a second of thinking.

"Why not?" Katie pouted. "You never go along with my plans."

"Because it's not as fun." Kendall replied as if it was obvious.

"He's got you on that one," Rhuben agreed as she brushed her hair out of her face. "It wouldn't be nearly as fun." She turned and glared at Kendall. "But I'm _not _going to flirt with that guy!" She stated sharply.

"We _never _said that you had to flirt with him," James defended his friend and smiled charmingly. "Not that you have any problems in that area," he added and then cleared his throat when Logan looked at him with narrowed eyes. "I'm just saying that you have to find some way to distract him."

"By what?" Riley replied with a snort. "Flopping all over his desk like a dog in heat?"

"That was a _very_ disturbing image I really didn't need." WayneWayne stated as he rubbed his hands over his eyes. "Very, _very_ disturbing image." He let out a cry of pain when Riley hit him on the arm. "Ow!"

"I think we got your point." Kendall replied.

"Ok, that's what we're definitely _not _doing." Ronan broke into the conversation. "What you all are going to do," he motioned to Kendall, James, Logan, WayneWayne, Riley, Rhuben, and Katie. "You guys are going to find a way to distract him in that…" he looked them up and down. "Incredibly stupid and mischievous way that you do it and we," he motioned to himself, Brittany, Julius, and Ronan. "Will bring the tree into the hotel."

"Got it." Kendall replied and gave a thumbs up.

"Good, we're going to go get the tree." Gustavo replied and then glared at Logan, James, and Kendall. "And if you dogs somehow mess this up like I know you're going to, you're going to be stuck on a leash outside when the tour is over!" He glared at them a few more seconds and then followed Ronan, Brittany, and Julius out of the hotel.

"I have no idea what we're going to do to distract him." Kendall stated as soon as they were out of earshot.

"Let me think," Riley rubbed her chin as she started to pace back and forth.

"Don't hurt yourself." Kendall replied with a teasing smile. Riley just looked back at him with a smirk before she continued to pace. WayneWayne and Rhuben exchanged looks and he ignored it the best that he could. "Well, have you got anything?"

"The only thing that I can think of is if we pretend to break one of our body parts." She replied and then looked over at WayneWayne. "And I'm sure that you wouldn't want to be pushed down the stairs."

"Why me?" He asked, looking offended.

"Because I doubt that Gustavo would even bat an eye if Kendall, Logan, or James somehow managed to get hurt," Rhuben replied. "And then Ronan would care too much if it was me or Riley that got hurt. And we'd probably all go to jail if we threw Katie down the stairs." She reached out and patted WayneWayne's shoulder. "So that just leaves you."

"It's good to know that you care about my well being so much." WayneWayne replied sarcastically. "I feel the love."

"No problem, Dubs." Rhuben replied quickly and looked around to make sure that no one was watching them. "So, just go over there and hit the ground convulsing or something."

"Wouldn't it be better if we just-"

"GANG WAY, COMING THROUGH!" Gustavo's yell cut through the air. They all turned and stared as Gustavo, Julius, Brittany, and Ronan walked through the front doors of the hotel, carrying the large tree.

"They call that being inconspicuous?" Logan asked as he slapped himself on the forehead.

"Yeah, well, Gustavo isn't one to know when _not_ to yell." Kendall replied. His eyes then widened. "Hey, watch out, you're getting too clo-"He didn't have a time to warn them as a bagboy had come out of a elevator, causing Julius to quickly stop and try and sidestep him.

Unfortunately, that caused Brittany, who was the weakest one of them, to lose her grip on the tree. They stumbled over towards the front desk and crashed into the others. While the tree landed harmlessly on the ground, along with the others, Gustavo landed on top of James, crushing him into the ground.

"Get him off!" James shouted.

"Ha," Logan smirked. "Now you know how I felt." He stated, referring to the time that Gustavo had moved into the guys' apartment when his mansion had flooded. They were playing video games, and Gustavo had sat on Logan, keeping him stuck in the couch for over an hour.

"I'm serious," James cried through gritted teeth. "Get him off; I think he broke my arm!" Ronan and Julius quickly grabbed Gustavo's arms and pulled him off of the ground.

"The dog should have been watching where he was going." Gustavo replied, trying to take the blame off of himself.

"Right, cause I'm supposed to know when you're going to go body slamming people." James shot back sarcastically as he curled up into a ball, making sure not to move his arm. "Oh my arm, I think it's broken."

"Ouch," Riley winced as she kneeled down and looked at it. "I think he's right."

"Are you sure it's broken?" Kendall asked apprehensively.

"I know a broken bone when I see one." She replied and grabbed onto James arm, examining it. She looked up at Logan and he nodded. "Yeah, we're going to need to call a doctor." Brittany quickly whipped her phone out of her pocket and dialed 9-1-1.

"I don't think it's broken," WayneWayne stated as he tilted his head to the side, looking down at his friend. "Does that hurt?" WayneWayne asked as he poked James' arm, causing him to shout and whimper again. "Yeah, it's broken."

"Ya think?" Katie snapped back.

* * *

-**Christmas Day**-

"C'mon, Kendall, get up already!"

Katie stood by her brother's bedside, shaking him gently. The sun had only just begun to be visible through the window in his room, but that still didn't mask her excitement as it was her favorite day of the year.

Christmas.

Kendall rolled over, pretending to ignore her, but that only caused Katie to shake him harder. Peeking out from under the covers, Kendall stuck his tongue out for a brief moment, and then winked. "Ok, Katie, ok, I'm up." he muttered, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"You have to come see," Kendall had never seen his sister more excited since they had started the tour. "It snowed last night! Come on!" Katie was hopping about the room impatiently. "I've been up for hours waiting for you, and I'm sick of waiting, we need to open presents. Pleeeease get up?" she pleaded and smiled in the way that she knew from years of practice he would not say no to.

"Katie-"

"KENDALL, KENDALL GET UP!" Carlos shouted as he raced into the room and dove on top of his friend, causing him to grunt in pain. "Come on, it's Christmas! It's Christmas! We have gifts to open!"

"Carlos," Kendall shouted as he frantically tried to wrestle his way out of the blankets on his bed and from the flailing limbs of his childish friend. "Get off, I can't breathe!"

"It's Christmas! It's Christmas! It's Christmas!" Carlos continued to chant as he jumped up and down on the bed. Now, though, he had grabbed Katie and the two of them were holding hands and jumping up and down on the bed, chanting the words over and over again.

"Don't you guys know the meaning of sleep?" Logan asked as he poked his head out from the covers of the bed on the other side of the room. "It's 6 in the morning." He sat up when he saw Carlos and Katie jumping up and down on Kendall's bed, Kendall laughing at the sight. "Don't you know that's not safe? We don't need someone else with a broken bone."

"You need to learn to live a little, Logie." Kendall replied as he turned to his smart friend. "It's Christmas," he reminded him and then picked up his pillow. "Just shut up and enjoy it." He threw it and it hit Logan in the face. He smiled and threw it back before looking serious.

"So," he asked loud enough for Kendall to hear, but quietly enough so that Katie and Carlos didn't hear him. "Are you going to give Riley her gift, since you got it for her before you broke up?"

"It depends on whether or not she gives me one," Kendall replied with a careless shrug. "But I'm not getting my hopes up." He got up and knocked Carlos and Katie over before jumping up on the bed, arms above his head in victory. "Yes! Whoo!"

"Why are you guys still in bed?" James asked, walking into the room, scratching his arm above the bright blue cast that was on his arm. "Dude, we're supposed to be down there opening our presents!" He jumped up and down in excitement. "Let's go!"

"Race ya there!" Carlos and Katie shouted in unison as they shoved Kendall back down onto the bed and went running out of the room.

* * *

**A/N: Alright, Christmas chapter is over and now they're going to Australia and they're now back on the tour! Whooo! The story is still rolling long, and now they were 20 chapters left. Halfway through the story and it can only get better. (I hope.) I hope you guys liked this chapter and the next one will be up soon. What would you guys like to see in this story (besides seeing Kendall and Riley getting back together?)**

**Cheers,**

**-Riley**

**PS – I'm sorry that it took so long to update, since tomorrow is Friday and then it's the weekend, and I'll be able to update a lot of my stuff again AND thanks for the 19 reviews last chapter. The idea for James to break his arm came from mandamichelle, but I tweaked it a little bit to fit what was supposed to happen in this chapter.**


	21. Big Time Past

**Chapter Twenty-One – Big Time Problems**

**A/N: This is a chapter centered on Lella, since I haven't shown it as much as I want/try to.**

**

* * *

**"Ugh, I want to go surfing so badly!" James groaned as he sat on the couch in the Jacksons' living room, looking out the window as the waves rolled onto the sand. "It's not fair that I can't go!"

"James, ould you knock it off?" Rhuben asked in her Australian accent, as she walked into the room, holding a basketball against her hip, in her other hand was a blow dryer. "You've been complaining about your broken arm since it broke, about a week ago, and you've been complaining about not being able to surf for _days_." She picked up the ball and lightly smacked it against his forehead, catching it as it bounced back into her hands. "Give it a rest, yeah?"

"Well _excuse me _for being cranky," James replied sarcastically as he rolled his eyes towards her. "I just broke my arm because my music producer fell on it during Christmas; we get to Sydney, Australia where I haven't caught up on _any_ of my sleep, and I can't surf because I can't get my arm wet and that's what I _really_ wanted to do!" He laughed hollowly. "Oh and to top it all off, we have a concert tonight, where I have to be _extra careful_ to make sure I don't hurt myself further. Other than that I'm just fine." He stated and grabbed a pillow off of the couch and hugged it to his chest.

"Are you done ranting?" Rhuben asked, looking up from her watch, finally.

"Yeah, I'm done." James replied in a defeated tone.

"Good, because I don't like it when people whine," Rhuben replied and handed him a hair dryer. "It's not for your hair, Handsome," she stated, rolling her eyes when James perked up a little. He pouted and slumped forward again. "This is in case your arm starts to itch, just blow cool air down into your cast." She instructed and went into the kitchen, where Julius, Brittany, Ronan, Kelly, Kacy, and Gustavo were talking. "Hey Julius, do you want to play some ball?" She questioned, chest passing the basketball at him.

"You don't play." Julius laughed as he passed the basketball back to her.

"I'm not _that _bad," Rhuben stated rolling her eyes as she caught the ball before it hit her face. She passed it back and forth between her hands. "Besides, you haven't played in a long time, and you need time to rest and-"

"I can't rest when I have too much stuff to do for the wedding," Julius stated as he and Brittany stood up, pushing their chairs back over the kitchen floor. "In fact, that's where we were headed now, to get some more reservations done."

"But you promised." Rhuben stated feeling annoyed with how lame and whiny it sounded.

"I know I promised, but I just don't have time now." Julius walked over to his sister and kissed her on the forehead. "We'll play later, yeah?" he asked as he gently squeezed her shoulder before he and Brittany walked out of the room. Brittany gave her an apologetic smile and a nod before leaving behind her fiancé.

"Fine," Rhuben frowned. Ronan looked over at his adoptive daughter and bit his lower lip for a second. He thought for a minute and then smiled.

"Hey, how about you and I go down to the pier and get some ice cream?" he suggested. He made a face when he heard James' agonized moan from the living room.

"Knock it off with the whining, dog!" Gustavo shouted back towards him.

Rhuben let out a heavy sigh and dropped the basketball to the ground. Rhuben muttered something under her breath and walked to the glass door, pulling it open, stepping out onto the patio, and closing it behind her, leaving the kitchen. Ronan frowned as he grabbed the bouncing basketball and placed it on the kitchen table. "I'll take that as a 'no' then." He replied, feeling slightly hurt.

"What was that all about?" Kelly asked, giving Ronan and odd look.

Ronan just sighed and leaned back against the sink, sticking his hands under his armpits. "Something tells me that being back home isn't going to be as enjoyable for them as they thought." He said to himself before speaking to Kelly. "Being back home pretty much means spending a lot of time together when they're not on stage," he explained quickly. "Not just for them and their friends, but to hang out with Julius too, as they're used to coming back home just for the idea of visiting them. But now that he's getting married, he has other things to worry about and I think that they're starting to feel left out." He shrugged. "It just makes me wonder what it'll be like when they do finally get married."

"I see what you mean," Kacy agreed from where she and Gustavo were sitting at the table, holding onto glasses of lemonade. "Instead of trying to take care of his brothers and sisters, and making up for the time that he hadn't been around for them, he will now be taking care of his new wife."

"Exactly," Ronan put a finger to his nose.

"Well, who need marriage?" Gustavo snorted as he shook his head. "All it does is cause you misery and the bride and groom are bound to fight and yell at each other all the time after the first few weeks."

"What's your excuse?" Ronan asked in reply and smiled.

* * *

Rhuben pulled her hair back into a ponytail as she walked into her backyard, enjoying the feeling of being able to walk barefoot across the grass. She could definitely say that she didn't miss having to wear numerous mounts of clothing back in the US. Logan, WayneWayne, Camille, Stephanie, and Jo, were sitting on the patio, eating lunch and talking about nothing.

"Hey," Logan greeted with a wave as Rhuben walked over to them and plopped down in a chair. "What's wrong, Bella?" he asked when he noticed the expression on her face. Logan wiped his fingers on his napkin and leaned back in his chair when Rhuben didn't immediately reply. "I've known your facial expressions since we were eight, I know whenever you're upset about something."

"What's up, girlfriend?" Camille asked as she pushed her sunglasses up her forehead. "You're back home doing shows in your hometown before we go off to the rest of Australia, you shouldn't be frowning."

"Yeah, well, you'd be frowning too if your brother wasn't paying any attention to you." Rhuben muttered in reply as she brought her feet up to her chest, picking at her fingernails. "Never mind, it's stupid."

"It's not stupid." Logan reassured her.

"Are you annoyed that Julius hasn't been spending much time with you lately?" Jo guessed, tilting her head to the side. 'That's not that bad, trust me, its better than having to listen to James complain about not being able to do anything with a broken arm."

Rhuben smiled a little.

"Hey, let's go into town," Logan suggested as he reached out and grabbed Rhuben's hand. "We can just walk around and talk." Rhuben looked over at him, looking like she wasn't going to agree. "Please?" he wheedled.

Rhuben rolled her eyes and pulled her hand away, digging for her keys in her jeans shorts pockets as she stood up. "Oh, I see how it is," Stephanie stated as she crossed her arms over her chest, playfully shooting her a glare. "You'd rather spend time with your boyfriend than with the rest of us."

"Exactly," Rhuben replied, sticking out her tongue before rolling her eyes. "I'll see you guys later. I have my phone on me if Ronan or anyone else needs me while we're out." She called over her shoulder. She and Logan walked to the front of the house, grabbed their shoes from the pile that was left in the foyer, and got into Rhuben's car and drove into the main part of Sydney.

She and Logan stopped and got some ice cream and continued to walk along, licking their cones. Logan walked along quietly, waiting for Rhuben to start speaking; he didn't have to wait long. "I don't know, I know that Julius is happy with the idea of having a new wife soon, but it kind of annoys me how it seems that the only reason that he agreed to be Ronan's co-manager/producer was to get extra money."

"You know that's not true." Logan stated gently, reaching out with his free hand and laced his fingers with his girlfriend's. "He does care about you guys," he paused. "If I had to guess, I would say that he felt guilty, you know, about not being able to help you all of those years that you guys had been hurt by your dad." He spoke the words carefully and busied himself with his ice cream when he was done.

"I'm not going to hurt you just because you said that." Rhuben stated and sighed loudly, pulling her hair behind her ears as she had finished her cone somewhat quickly. "We're getting over it, it's not like we're going to snap at you each and every time that you guys bring up our abuse."

"You did before."

"That was before we realized that we had friends."

"I've always been your friend." Logan replied, sounding kind of hurt.

"Oh really?" Rhuben made a scoffing sound with the back of her throat as she pulled her hand away from Logan's and crossed her arms over her chest. "So what happened those few months after we moved away, you said that you would call us. We gave you our new number."

"The phone works both ways." Logan pointed out.

"Right," Rhuben replied sharply, now getting mad as she stopped walking and turned to look at him. "Because I was actually _allowed_ to use the phone."

"How was I supposed to know that?" Logan shot back, noticing that people were starting to stop and stare at the two of them. It made him nervous, he knew how famous the Jacksons were back in their home, and he didn't want any bad press to go their way. So he lowered his voice and stood up straight, trying not to let his annoyance and frustration seep into his tone.

"You weren't," Rhuben had lowered her tone as well, to a cool tone and Logan wasn't sure if it was because she noticed that people were staring as well, or if it was because she was that angry. Logan hated it whenever she looked at him or anyone else for that matter, with a cold gaze, as he knew when he was younger, that it meant that she was either downright pissed off, or she was trying really hard not to hate you.

"So then how am I supposed to justify what I did or didn't do?" Logan asked quickly, his throat growing dry as he spoke. His throat felt as if it was on fire, he was speaking so forcefully. "I'm sorry that I never called, it was just that I was so…"

"So what?"

"So afraid." Logan admitted after a minute of thinking.

Rhuben faltered for a second, but she still looked angry, but she was confused at the same time. She didn't understand how the conversation could go from her venting her frustration about Julius to hers and Logan's relationship and how it had changed over the years. '_What was he so afraid of?_' Rhuben asked herself as she studied his face. '_He looks so guilty…_'

"Afraid of what?" she asked, finally finding her voice.

"Aww, are the lovers having a spat?"

Logan noticed Rhuben stiffen for a moment before the cool glare that she had on her face before, came back and she turned around to face the green-eyed brunette that stood behind them. He stood smirking at the two of them although his gaze was mainly on Rhuben. Logan looked over at her and he saw that she was staring back at him.

"What're you doing here, Austen?" she demanded in a tone so low that Logan barely heard her. "Have you been following me since we got back here?"

"I would have to be pretty pathetic to want to follow you around," Austen replied in an insulting tone. "I mean, especially since you were the one that broke up with me." He added airily. "Not that it matters really," he shrugged. "I got over you pretty fast."

"Good for you," Rhuben replied with an s slow nod. She looked over at Logan. "Logan, this is my ex, Austen, Austen, this is my boyfriend Logan." She stated quickly.

"Yeah, I know who you are," Austen nodded, not moving to hold out his hand for a shake. "You're one of those Big Time Rush boys." He looked over at Logan and grinned, but it held a hidden sense of maliciousness. "Yeah, you're getting pretty famous around here."

"Austen, leave it." Rhuben warned him quietly.

"So have you been throwing up lately?" Austen tossed back to her, taking his green away from Logan.

_"Alright," Logan sat down and sighed when he was off his feet. "What did you want to talk to me about? I can tell it's really serious from the looks on your faces."_

_"It is," Rhuben agreed as she gathered her hair into a ponytail and moved her hair behind her shoulders. "Ri and I think that you deserve to know everything that has happened to us in the few years that we weren't around each other."_

_"Including a bit of our life back in Australia." Riley agreed._

_"Why are you telling me this now?" Logan questioned, looking confused. "And why only me?"_

_"We're telling you now because now is a good time as any," Rhuben replied, yawning a little. "Plus we both agree that we've been putting it off for too long. And you're our best friend, so it's a good idea for you to be the first one to know." She took a deep breath, scratching her forehead before speaking. "After we moved away from you and Texas we were constantly going back and forth from Australia and LA and that caused a lot of stress on us."_

_"And because of that stress, Rhu and I didn't make the best decisions in the world." Riley added and turned her hands over so he could see all the old cuts that lined her arm. "That day when we were in LA, celebrating the fact that Ronan was going to be our new dad, you found out about my cutting." She explained and looked him in the eye. "While we were going back and forth from LA to Australia, Rhuben and I started to date some guys that were…well…"_

_"They were jerks." Rhuben stated and Logan turned to look at her. "And unfortunately, all they cared about was the fact that they were getting famous because they were dating us. They didn't care at all, and they weren't nice. Long story short, because of them and because of the abuse that we were getting, Riley started to cut and for a while I became anorexic."_

_"What?" Logan questioned after a second of silence. __Anorexic? __He repeated to himself. __As in not eating? As in hurting your body from the inside out? It makes sense as to why she acts kind of weird around food. __He shook his head. "Wait a minute," he turned to Riley. "Is that why you were acting weird around Kendall tonight?"_

_"No," Riley shook her head. "I didn't mean to practically avoid him all night," she sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I'm just still not used to the fact that he is as nice as he is and cares about me. It kind of freaks me out from time to time so I try not to be too close to him, but I'm trying to get over it."_

_"But you need to tell him." Logan insisted._

_"No," Riley shook her head again. "It's easier if I don't get him worried about me. I'll get over it eventually"_

_"Then why tell me all this?" Logan sounded exasperated as he threw his hands into the air and then turned to Rhuben with wide eyes. "Why did you tell me that you were anorexic? Why do you want me to know?"_

_"Because we trust you completely." Rhuben replied patiently._

Logan blinked as the memory suddenly entered his mind. Before he knew it, his body filled with undistinguishable rage and he hurled a fist forwards and hit Austen square in the middle of the face. Rhuben stood there; her mouth and eyes wide open as Austen fell backwards. Logan moved forward and grabbed Austen by the front of the shirt, and hauled him up before punching him across the face again.

"Logan," Rhuben finally cried, finding her voice. "Logan, stop it!"

"That…bastard caused you to become anorexic, to basically completely starve yourself so you could potentially die and you want me to stop hitting him?" Logan asked as he turned to look at her, eyes filled with fury. "I don't get you."

"I'll admit that I've always wanted to hit him so hard that he would feel it for the rest of his life, for making me go to that extreme," Rhuben spoke as patiently as possible, but the way that Logan was looking at her scared her. "Trust me, I wanted to, but after everything that our dad put us through, I realized that it wasn't the best way to get back at him. The way that I could beat him down, to let him know that he didn't get the best of me was by turning my life around and I have."

"I, honestly, don't get you sometimes." Logan stated, rubbing his hand where he had punched Austen.

Rhuben looked at him and he could see a bit of hurt in her eyes as she turned towards her ex-boyfriend. "Austen," she stated sharply and he looked at her, looking a little dazed. "Get out of here; you won't have to press charges because I won't tell anyone what happened."

Austen got up and quickly ran away, glaring back at Logan once. "I don't believe this," Logan muttered as he ran his fingers through his hair. "You're letting him get away with that?"

"It's like I said before, Logan, I care about other before I care about myself," Rhuben replied, watching Austen leave. "And I wouldn't want him to be charged with a stupid little fight." She let out a breath of air and the two stood there for a few moments in silence as the salty air continued to blow around them. "What were you so afraid of?"

"What?" Logan almost missed her question.

"Before you said that you didn't call because you were afraid," Rhuben slowly turned and looked at him, crossing her arms over her chest again. "What did you mean?"

'_That must be what she does when she's feeling vulnerable_' Logan suddenly thought to himself, watching her movement. "I meant that when you guys had moved to LA, and I moved to Minnesota, after you guys told me that your dad was taking you guys away because he wanted you guys to get even bigger on your music career, I was scared that I was going to lose you. I mean, what if you got really famous, I was never going to see you again and you were probably going to forget about me."

"We didn't forget," Rhuben shook her head. _"I_ didn't forget."

"I didn't forget you either," Logan agreed. "But I thought that when it came to phone calls, you could easily say that you never got them, so I decided to write letters, because you would get a letter and decide what you want to do with it over a short period of time. I sent one letter, didn't get a response, tried a couple more times and got nothing." He shrugged. "So I figured you forgot." He paused, seeing the expression shift on Rhuben's face. "What?"

"I never got a letter." Rhuben replied, shaking her head.

"What're you talking about?" Logan raised his eyebrows. "My mom watched me write like ten of them."

"I never got one," Rhuben repeated and shrugged. "I don't know how…"

As she trailed off, they both knew the reason why there never any letters or phone calls that were received. Robert had intercepted every letter and every phone call and made it seem like Logan didn't care about them, just so he could get a mental hold on his kids and to push them harder and harder each time. Just so they could push their past, their happiness behind, for his happiness.

"Your dad's a dick." Logan remarked, causing Rhuben to laugh.

"Well, that's something that we agree on." Rhuben replied, brushing her hair behind her ears. "I'm sorry-"

"No," Logan interrupted her. "It was my fault, I'm sorry." He shrugged helplessly. "What can I do to make it right?" Rhuben bowed her head, smiling a little, her cheeks turning red. "You're blushing aren't you?"

"No," Rhuben replied sharply as she lifted her head. "I don't blush." She lightly tugged on her strand of purple hair before tucking it behind her ear. "Logie…have I ever told you that you're awesome?"

"No, but I think I _do_ deserve that compliment." Logan replied with a flirty lift to his voice and stepped forward, wrapping his arms around Rhuben in a hug. She grabbed fistfuls of his shirt and held onto him tightly as he hugged her, resting her head on his chest. Logan rested his chin on her head. "Bella, you're my best friend and I want you to know that I'm always going to be there for you when you need me, even if you don't think you do, even if you don't want me there, I'm going to be there for you, no matter what. To make you happy, even if it's just to make you smile or laugh."

"You always say that," Rhuben replied, her voice slightly muffled by his chest. "And I know that you're telling the truth, but there's always a small part of me that doesn't believe you."

"I'm going to keep trying 'till you believe me," Logan replied, hugging her tighter. "But this time, no one is going to stop me."

* * *

**A/N: So there you go, I had a little bit of Jella friendship, as well as a small fight between Lella, which will get Logan to prove how sweet he can be. I had trouble with the ending of the chapter, but I guess it turned out ok.**

**So here is (one of) their days off in Australia after the Christmas break, that's causing a little bit of problems, the next chapter is their first concert in Australia, then they celebrate New Year's, then it goes through the rest of their time in Australia (with them getting in trouble along the way), Katie and Kendall seeing their dad, and the boys once and for all dealing with their problems. (Of course the wedding is in there as well.)**

**I hope you guys liked this chapter. Only 19 more chapters to go, haha. But pay attention to this chapter, because part of what was said in it is very important for the rest of the story.**

**Cheers,**

**-Riley**


	22. Big Time Talk

**Chapter Twenty-Two – Big Time Talk**

**A/N: This is a long chapter, just so you know and it focuses more on their friendships and stuff than the concert, but it does show the end of the concert as well.**

**

* * *

**Katie nearly jumped out of her skin when a pair of hands slid over her eyes when she was watching TV in the den. She relaxed though, when she heard Noah's voice in her ear. "Come on, we're going to the beach."

"You're not even going to ask if I _want_ to go?" Katie asked as she tried to move his hands, but he had a firm grip. Noah laughed a little bit, causing Katie to blush.

"No, I'm kidnapping you." He replied and then moved his hands from her eyes. "Come on." He smiled when she turned around and looked at him. He looked down at her feet. "But I think that you're going to want to wear some clothes-toed shoes."

"If we're going to the beach then I think that wearing sandals is fine." Katie replied as she turned off the TV and got to her feet as Noah rounded the couch to stand beside her. "Besides, it's probably a bad idea that I'm your hostage, because I would escape in two seconds flat."

"I don't doubt you," Noah admitted in his quiet tone and tilted his head to the side, looking at her curiously. "Do you _want_ to escape?" He asked. Katie thought about it for a moment and then shook her head. "Good," Noah smiled again. "Let's go then." He led the way into the garage and flipped on the light as he walked over to a rack of bikes.

"We're not going to the beach on _that _are we?" Katie asked as she pointed to a black motorcycle. Noah looked over his shoulder at it and shook his head.

"No," he replied as he lifted his bike off of the wall and gently lowered it to the ground. "That one's not even mine," he added after he took a second look. "That one is," he pointed to a silver one in the corner of the garage. "But we're not allowed to ride them unless we're at the track." Noah got onto his bike and balanced it between his legs and he kicked up the kick stand. "Hop on." He instructed as he pushed a button on the side of the garage and the garage door slowly opened. "Although I suggest that you don't move around too much or you might get your legs caught." He added as Katie stood on the spokes on the front of his bike.

"Don't I know it," Katie replied as she rolled her eyes, tightly holding onto the bike as Noah started to peddle out of the garage. "I used to ride on Kendall's bike, back in Minnesota, and he always threw me off of it." She smiled as Noah pulled out onto the street and started to pedal steadily. There was a honking noise and the two waved as Rhuben and Logan drove by to go back to the house. "So how far away is the beach?"

"About ten minutes," Noah replied, leaning over a little, to make sure her hair wouldn't fly into his face. "But it's shorter since we're taking a bike."

"Cool."

Noah continued to pedal to the beach, smiling and waving to people that they passed. When they arrived, he put his bike into the bike rack and they started to walk along the beach. Katie stopped every now and then to pick up some brightly colored sea shells as Noah stood by, patiently. A few people came up to him for autographs and he signed them quickly as Katie stood off to the side.

"Wow," Katie remarked as she smiled, watching a few small boys run off with his autograph. "You guys are great with fans. They don't jump and crowd around at all."

"That's only because there aren't a bunch of girls that have noticed that we're home." Noah replied with a half smile. Katie frowned as she looked over at him.

"Are you messing with me?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"Just a little," Noah replied as he shoved his hands into his pockets and grinned. The wind blew his hair out of his face and Katie was greeted with the rare sight of being able to see both of his eyes. "Seriously though," he cleared his throat. "I put up a message on our website saying that I was going out today and didn't want to get hounded."

"Gotcha" Katie nodded slowly and then looked confused. "Why would you do that? I figured that you would like to hang out with your fans."

"I do, don't get me wrong," Noah replied quickly, shielding his face from the sun. "But I wanted to spend the day with you," he looked down and blushed. "And I didn't want you to get weirded out with everyone being around."

Katie's eyes widened about two times its normal size. "You did that for me?"

"Yes."

Katie blushed and fell silent as well; she even looked down at her feet, like Noah was. "That's sweet." She moved forward and quickly kissed his cheek, blushing harder. "Thank you." The two looked up at the same time and laughed, instantly lowering some of the nervousness.

"You're welcome." Noah replied and reached out and grabbed her hand. He blushed again and the two started walking again, feeling Katie tighten her grip in his hand.

The two continued to walk along the beach, letting their feet get washed over by water for about an hour, talking very little and enjoying each other's company. Every now and then when they would look at each other they would blush and smile. After many failed attempts, by Noah, to throw Katie into the water, to which she threatened to punch him in the face (which she probably would do) they headed back up the beach to go back to the house after Noah looked at his watch, to make sure he wasn't late for the sound check before the concert.

"We have a while," Noah said as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket to call home and tell whoever answered that they were on their way back. "But we never know how long sound checks take, and-"he frowned as he looked at his phone. "Hm, I missed a few calls from Pat."

"Is that weird?" Katie asked.

"No," Noah replied after a minute of silence as he looked at her out of the corner of his eyes. He sounded like he didn't want to tell her what was going on. He shoved his phone back into his pocket. "Let's just get home."

"Patrick's my friend too, you know." Katie stated forcefully, not moving from her spot as she looked at Noah sharply. "And I think that I deserve to know what's going on." Noah looked at her for a few second and then sighed.

"Fine," he replied shortly. "Just wait until we get home then you'll get it." He grabbed his bike and waited for Katie to get back on before he peddled home. Katie held onto the bike frame tightly, noticing that Noah was peddling faster than he had on the way out to the beach.

"Oh you're back," Patrick commented as he looked up from the TV, pressing the mute button. He looked down at his nails. "So where did you guys disappear to?"

"We went to the beach." Katie replied, brushing some leftover sand off of her legs. "Not that interesting." She added.

"Cool," Patrick replied dully and got off of the couch. "I'm going to go to my room, I have a few dragons that I need to work on and-"he stopped when Noah held his arm out, blocking him from exiting. "What?"

"Don't even try to play dumb," Noah replied, still in his quiet voice, but it still held a sharp tone to it, warning his brother not to hide anything. "Because you're not and I can feel everything that you're feeling." Patrick walked backwards a few steps. "So why don't you just tell me that you're mad that I went with Katie and not you."

"I don't have to say it," Patrick replied. "You just said it for me."

"But why would be upset about that?" Katie asked and blushed a little. "I mean, I hang out with you and Syd all the time and I don't really get to spend time with…uh…just Noah."

"Yeah, I get that you want to be alone." Patrick replied looking over at her. "Since you're dating…I guess," he hurried to continue and then spoke to his brother. "I just…I don't know, I don't like change-"

"But you were the one that said that you were backing off from going after Katie," Noah reminded him gently. "And if you didn't, and you had dated her, it would have changed."

"But I would have balanced my time between her and you equally." Patrick replied heatedly, his voice cracking with the emotion.

Noah immediately understood what Patrick meant. The two of them were so close that they couldn't stand to be apart from each other for more than two hours, they constantly texted or called each other if they were apart for filming or photo shoots and it was just something they understood about each other. Noah had never thought about it before, but it might have been because they were so dependent on each other when their father was still around, they relied on each other to be there for each other whenever Riley and Rhuben weren't there, and it was the same thing when they were taking care of Sydney. But now, since Noah and Katie were 'hanging out' and Noah seemed to not want to be around Patrick anymore, it was making him feel unwanted.

"Listen," Noah brushed his hair out of his face as he looked over at his twin. "One of the reasons that I've been spending so much time with Katie is because sometimes, around you, I feel insignificant." Patrick looked confused. "I mean, I'm always being compared to you; you're the outgoing one, the one that's great at talking to people, the one that can make everybody laugh. When I'm with Katie I can be myself."

"I didn't know you felt that way," Patrick replied after a second, frowning. "I'm sorry if _I _made you feel that way."

"It wasn't you," Noah replied shaking his head. "It was everyone else; the fans and the paparazzi and the media, but it's like I said before, when you were in the hospital, you're my twin and we're probably never going to get away from each other." He smiled. "Not that I want to," he added. "And even if I do need my space sometimes, you're always going to be my twin and my best friend and nothing's going to change that."

"Of course not." Patrick smirked. "_I'm_ irreplaceable." Noah grinned and grabbed his brother into a headlock and gave him a noogie. Patrick shrieked and shoved his brother away, moving his hands up to his hair. "Watch the spikes!"

Noah smiled.

* * *

"Does anyone want to play?" Sydney asked as he walked into the basement, carrying a deck of cards. He frowned when it seemed that no one had heard what he said. He let out a heavy sigh and turned and walked back up the stairs before wandering into the kitchen, where Ronan, Gustavo, Kelly, and Mrs. Knight were talking. "Does anybody want to play?" he asked, holding up his deck of cards.

"We're kind of busy at the moment, Sydney." Kelly replied with a patient smile. "We're going over stuff for the show tonight."

"Set list?" Sydney asked, his eyebrows rising in interest. He turned to Ronan. "We haven't given you our ideas yet."

"No, not that," Ronan laughed. "We're working on some of the logistics for the arena size, how sales are going, and things like that." He raised his eyebrows as well. "You want to help? I know that you like things like that."

"As much as I would like to say yes," Sydney paused for a second. "I'm going to have to say no." He turned on his heel and left the kitchen, in search for someone else. He hurried over to the front door when he heard it open and smiled when he saw Rhuben and Logan enter the house. "Hi Logan, Hi Rhu-Rhu, do you guys want to pl-"he stopped when he looked at Rhuben's face. "You saw Austen didn't you?" he asked.

"How could you tell?" Logan asked, surprised. Rhuben, on the other hand, just nodded.

"The only time she ever has that look on her face is when she sees Austen," Sydney replied. "And I've seen that look a lot." He shrugged. "I knew he was bad news when I first saw him, I never really liked the tool anyway."

Logan burst our laughing and Rhuben tried to hide her pleased smile with a stern look, but it was obvious that she was trying not to laugh as well. "Syd, where did you-"

"You're forgetting that I have you and Riley as sisters." Sydney pointed out, slapping the deck of cards against his hand, each time it hit his palm it made a light smacking sound. "I pick up things from you easily." His face then turned to one of concern. "You didn't see Braden did you?"

"No," Rhuben sighed as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Which is a good thing, because if the roles were reversed Riley would probably be sitting in jail right now for beating him up." She added and then ran her fingers through Sydney's hair. Normally he found a comfort in it, but now he just stood there, looking at her. "You're too smart."

"Yeah, I know," Sydney replied with a sad look in his eyes. "But unfortunately even though I invent a lot of things for our band, I can read people like a book, and I can beat even the smartest computer at chess, no one seems to remember that I'm still only ten." He turned and walked into the den and curled up on the couch, frowning at the deck of cards as he shuffled them in his hands.

"Hey Little Man," James greeted as he walked into the den. "Do you want to come to the beach with me or something?" Sydney perked up a little, looking interested. "Rhuben and Logan just went off to go make out, is my guess, Noah and Katie disappeared somewhere and everyone is being incredibly boring."

"And you want to hang out with me?" Sydney asked skeptically.

"Yeah." James replied with a nod, his eyes shifting back and forth. "Is that weird?"

"No," Sydney smiled and put the deck of cards down. "That's cool!" He tapped his chin. "Um, I know that you really want to go in the water, but you can't…" His eyes lit up. "Wait here!" He jumped down from the couch and hurried into the kitchen, coming back with a big piece of saran wrap. "Just wrap this around your cast and you should be fine."

"Are you sure?" James asked skeptically as he looked at the sheet of plastic.

"Yeah," Sydney nodded. "We used it all the time whenever we got broken bones and couldn't go into the water." He shook his head as he rolled his eyes. "You should have seen Patrick; he was like you, practically bouncing off the walls in exasperation because he couldn't go into the water." He scoffed. "Dad was so strict about that." He paused when James looked at him oddly. "I'm getting over it, alright?" He insisted, glaring a little. "Sure, I still have nightmares and I think about him a lot, but he's in jail and we're on the other side of the world, now can we go, please?"

"Yeah, let's go buddy." James slapped him playfully on the shoulder and grinned as Sydney quickly wrapped the saran wrap around his cast. The two left the house and went to the beach (walking in the opposite direction that Noah and Katie had gone) and walked along, talking quietly. "So what's on your mind?"

"Nothing," Sydney replied sighing heavily and then all of a sudden he started talking a mile a minute. "I know that I'm, like, the most mature out of everybody, but I don't think they remember, or care that I'm only ten and that I want some attention sometimes."

"What do you mean?" James asked, startled.

"I mean, I'm happy that Ri-Ri and Rhu-Rhu have friends and are finally enjoying life, and I'm happy that Patrick and Noah have finally stopped using me as their guinea pig on whatever plan they have," Sydney commented, rolling his eyes. "But I feel that they don't really care about me anymore." James opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but Sydney continued talking, cutting him off. "I mean, we always hang out because we're on tour, but I would like to be able to hang out with them as my family. But Riley and Rhuben are too obsessed with boyfriends, which I don't get, and Patrick and Noah are _always _hanging out with Katie."

"What about Julius?" James questioned, running his fingers through his hair.

"He's too busy with his wedding." Sydney muttered, digging his feet into the sand. He suddenly dropped to his knees and started to gather some sand together. "Let's make a sandcastle!" He looked up and smiled a little. "Just make sure you don't get any sand or water in your cast."

"Yeah, yeah," James rolled his eyes and sat down on the sand as well. "Syd, if I didn't know any better, I would say that you're feeling left out." He commented, peering at Sydney out of the corner of his eye. "Either that or it's because you're so close with them that the huge age gap between you and them is starting to settle in."

"Maybe," Sydney admitted after a minute. "I mean, if we were normal, like, not in a band, right now, Patrick, Noah, and I would be the only ones at home." He rubbed his neck. "I don't know, I never really liked the idea of being home alone." He shrugged and started to build the sandcastle again. "I don't like being alone in general, neither does Riley for that matter." He added, looking up at James and then looked down again. "But we're all moving on so I have to deal with it."

"Well, if there's ever a time where you feel left out, you can always hang with Jo and me." James suggested.

"You probably don't want me hanging around you all the time," Sydney replied with a teasing smile. "What with all of you guys just wanting to kiss and stuff," he wrinkled his nose. "I don't get that at all, it's the only reason I don't want to grow up."

James threw his head back and laughed, brushing his hair out of his face. "I mean it, Syd; I've got your back if you're ever lonely."

"Thanks James!" Sydney hugged him around the waist.

"It's no problem." James replied with a warm smile. He looked down at his cast and then out at the water. "Plus, I'm probably not going to be doing much until my arm heals." He groaned again. "Ugh, I want to go into the water so badly."

"So go," Sydney replied with a shrug and a mischievous smile. "Just make sure the saran wrap is tight around your cast and you're fine." He brushed his hair out of his face. "I'll sit here and make sure nothing goes wrong." He placed his hands over his mouth as he giggled a little. "And I won't tell anyone else." He held his hand out. "Deal?"

"Deal." James replied and shook his hand. He grinned and let out a whoop of excitement before going running into the water and disappearing under the waves.

Sydney smiled and continued making his sandcastle as James swam in the ocean, reveling in the feeling of the water going over his body. When Sydney was done, he stood at the edge of the water; smiling as he watched his friend and finally getting used to being back home in Australia. As soon as they had arrived back home, he immediately felt happier and more energetic than usual and he knew that it had gotten into his friends as well. When they weren't sleeping they seemed to be bouncing off of the walls, but it might have only been because it wasn't cold in Australia and they were tired of the cold weather. But either way, Sydney knew that the Australia leg of the tour was going to be amazing.

When James finally got back out of the water, the saran wrap was still on his cast, but barely holding on. "Uh-oh," Sydney made an exaggerated face as his voice slowly changed back to its Australian accent. "I think you may have gotten some water into your cast." He shrugged. "No worries though, mate, you can just go to the doctor and-"

"No! No doctors!" James cried, his eyes growing wide. "I _hate_ doctors."

"Gotcha." Sydney smiled triumphantly and started to walk back towards the house.

"You're _way_ too devious for your own good!" James called before catching up to the smaller boy in a few easy strides. "Just thought that you ought to know that."

"Who do you think is the one that makes sure that Kendall's and Riley's crazy plans actually work?" Sydney replied as he rolled his eyes. "So are you excited for the concert tonight?"

"Totally," James replied, his eyes lighting up. "I think that performing for our Australian fans is going to be pretty cool. Plus, it'll help us get to know our fans from around the world instead of just the US." His smile waned a little. "I just hope that Gustavo doesn't get too crazy here, like he does everywhere else we go."

"Well, if he gets kicked out of Australia, then we know the reason why." Sydney quipped back and they arrived back at the house quickly. James looked around before sneaking upstairs to get dry before anyone could yell at him and Sydney wandered his way back into the kitchen. "You're _still_ working on stuff for tonight?" He asked when he noticed the annoyed expression on Gustavo's face.

"No, _now_ we're giving Gustavo a set of rules so he doesn't get kicked out of Australia." Kelly replied.

Sydney snorted. "Talk about ironic." He stated much to the confusion to the adults. He walked over to Mrs. Knight and gave her a hug. "Thanks, Mama Knight, for getting James to talk to me."

"How'd you know it was me?" Mrs. Knight questioned as she gave him a gentle hug back.

"Because," Sydney pulled away and looked at her as if she was crazy. "James isn't that bright, and usually can't even notice when Jo wants his attention."

Mrs. Knight laughed and gave him another hug.

* * *

"Laundry." Riley stated as she knocked on the door of one of the guest rooms that Big Time Rush and the girls were staying in, holding a large laundry basket under her arm. "Carlos, what are you doing?" she asked when she noticed that he was jumping up and down on the bed with WayneWayne. "Wait a minute," she rubbed her forehead. "Do I _really_ want to know?"

"Not unless you want to get a headache." WayneWayne replied with a tired laugh as he jumped to the floor. "Carlos talked me into the idea of seeing who could jump the farthest."

"You can see by the hole in the wall over there," Carlos pointed across the room as he continued to jump up and down. "That I'm winning."

Riley looked over at the Carlos-shaped hole and her eyebrows twitched a little and then she shrugged. "It's not worse than what happened the last time we tried to see who could do the best trick after jumping off of the back of the couch." She gave a small smile as she shook her head. "I have to admit the lamp made a cool blue spark as it crashed against the ground."

"I'm assuming that it was your idea, then." Carlos stated as he stopped jumping on the bed and sat down calmly. "Maybe I should hire you the next time I get a stupid idea," he sounded wistful. "You could stop me from having stupid ideas."

Riley pretended to think about it. "You couldn't afford my services, Carlitos" she replied after a second. "Plus if you have a stupid idea, nine times out of ten, I'll try to stop you and just make it worse."

"Good point." Carlos laughed in reply.

"What were you asking for?" WayneWayne asked, eyeing the basket under her arm. "Laundry? What colors are you doing?"

"Umm," Riley looked into her basket. "Darks mostly, but I'm going to do another load because, of course, all I ever wear are reds."

"Makes sense." WayneWayne replied with a teasing smile. "I'll help you out," he stated as he walked over to the closet and grabbed his suitcase, dragging it out. "I mean, it's probably the only time where we don't have to pay for our laundry and you guys are letting us stay here."

"Yeah, just keep reminding me of that the next time that one of these idiots break something." Riley replied and led him out of the room and down to the laundry room. "So, which of your clothes is dirty?" she asked when she noticed his suitcase.

"All of them." WayneWayne replied with a shrug.

"So you're telling me that for the past few days you've been wearing dirty clothes?" Riley questioned and took a large step backwards. "So much like a guy," she stated, rolling her eyes before grabbing a can of air freshener and spraying it over his shirt. WayneWayne coughed and waved the mist away from his face. "Lucky you," she stated, looking through his suitcase, tossing a few shirts aside. "All you ever wear is darks just throw them in." She instructed, opening the washing machine. She made a screeching sound as she had picked up a pair of one of his boxer and quickly tossed it aside, wiping her hand on her pants leg. "Yuck, I touched it!"

"So much like a girl." WayneWayne teased back as he started to load his clothes into the washing machine.

"Shut up!" Riley laughed back. "You're forgetting that _I'm_ the one handling your clothes and I can do _whatever_ I want to them."

"Good point."

The two tossed all of the clothes they could fit into the washing machine and then added the soap before closing the lid and turning it on. Riley pulled herself up to sit on top of the washing machine as they waited for it to finish before they put the clothes into the dryer.

"So, I got a question for you." WayneWayne stated from where he was seated on the floor, looking at his laptop, which he had brought to the room a few minutes into the wait.

"If it has anything to do with Kendall, Dubs, forget it." Riley replied shortly.

"It doesn't, McGuire, chill," WayneWayne looked at her oddly and Riley gave him an apathetic look back. "I was going to say that I had seen a few episodes of your show on TV and I was wondering why it was that you decided to have the show done on Disney Channel? Because you don't seem like a Disney Channel chick to me."

"Yeah, that wasn't our decision." Riley replied as she absentmindedly started to pick at her wrist. "When we first got offered the show, Dad didn't like the idea of Disney Chanel because there's a certain image you have to uphold and things you can and can't say in public and our music definitely didn't fit that mold." She explained. "But then he realized that we could get more attention, thus more fans and more money, if we went into other genres of music. Which helped in the long run because we like doing all sorts of music."

"It'd be interesting to know what genre of music your fans respond to the most." WayneWayne commented as he closed the laptop and looked up at her.

"I guess," Riley was now scratching at her arm. "What about you? How is your music stuff going?"

"I'm putting it on hold a little, actually," WayneWayne replied as he rubbed his eyes. "I'm writing some stuff, you know, ideas for TV shows and movies, just to see if people would be interested in it. And I'm supporting Camille, to be honest though, she's kind of freaking out about not having much to do lately."

"You know how we're getting Jo to sing during one of our concerts?" Riley questioned, finally looking up from her wrist. WayneWayne nodded. "Well, while we're here, and before we go to the rest of Oz, we're shooting the season finale of our show, and we we're going to give Camille a part, as well as having Stephanie direct part of it. Or work as the director's assistant."

"That's awesome!" WayneWayne cried, his eyes widening a little. "Is it a surprise?"

"So far," Riley replied and aimed a fake kick at him. "If you can keep your mouth shut."

"I promise I won't tell."

"Won't tell anyone what?" Kendall asked as he stuck his head into the room. He made a face and then it was quickly replaced with an easy-going smile. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" WayneWayne replied before Riley could say anything. "We're having a picnic in the laundry room, we just forgot the food." His smile faded when Kendall gave him a sharp look. "That was a joke, dude."

"It wasn't that funny." Kendall replied as he ran his fingers through his hair. Riley immediately recognized it as his nervous habit. He looked over at Riley who was giving him an odd look. "What?"

"Nothing." Riley replied, shaking her head.

Kendall looked back and forth between the two of them before clearing his throat. "Can I talk to you for a second?" He asked Riley, scratching the back of his neck.

"Like I didn't see that coming," Riley breathed under her breath before looking up at him. "Sure." She replied so he could hear her and then followed him out of the room. She shrugged over at WayneWayne, who gave the crazy sign back, and followed him through the den, where she waved to Patrick, who was slumped on the couch, watching TV, and into the foyer. "What is it?"

"Do you have a thing for WayneWayne?" Kendall demanded as soon as the last word came out of her mouth.

"What?" Riley asked, startled at the abrupt question.

"Do you have a thing for WayneWayne?" Kendall replied slowly, deliberately stressing each word as he said them. "I mean, because you told me that you liked him before-"

"Do you _really_ think that I'm the type of girl that would go and steal someone else's boyfriend?" Riley asked, her eyebrows disappearing into her hairline. "Because I'm not drongo enough to make Camille want to kill me like that." She crossed her arms over her chest and muttered something under her breath. It was then that Kendall noticed that whenever she was mad (which was often) she spoke in her Australian accent. It also helped him notice that as soon as they had gotten back to Australia the Jacksons quickly switched to their Australian accent than their American ones.

"Oh really, because the way you-"

"You were jealous again, weren't you?" Riley interrupted. Kendall scoffed and tried to defend himself. "Don't even try to deny it; you're probably the most jealous person I've ever met in my entire life."

"No I'm not." Kendall stated lamely, shaking his head.

"Yes, you are." Riley insisted. "You-"

"Hey!" Patrick's voice came from the den. "Could you two blue a little quieter? I can't hear the TV."

Riley glared over towards the den and then lowered her voice a little as she turned back to Kendall. "He does have a point though. We're supposed to be friends, and all we do is have blues." Kendall looked at her dumbly. "Fights."

"You say we're 'just friends'" Kendall used air quotes around the words. "But you can't possibly tell me that you don't have any feelings for me." He looked right into her eyes.

"Not this again," Riley groaned as she rolled her eyes, letting out a heavy breath.

"Any at all?" Kendall insisted.

"I told you," Riley insisted. "I don't have-"

"What _you_ told me is that you didn't want to date me because my mom and your dad are dating." Kendall interrupted. "But you said that you still have feelings for me." He threw his hands into the air. "I don't think that I can be 'just friends' with you."

"You said you could!"

"That was before I realized how much I missed us being together and how I completely messed up what we had." Kendall replied and then frowned. "But now you seem to be spending all of your time with WayneWayne." He added accusingly.

"I just said I have no feelings for him." Riley's hands slowly clenched into fists. "Nor for James for that matter, since I'm sure you're wondering about that." Kendall made an impatient sound and Riley shot one back towards him and the two turned away from each other, wanting to calm down a little bit.

"Do you _really_ not want to get back together?" Kendall asked after a minute. "Like, not at all?"

Riley turned back to him and he noticed that she was rubbing her wrist. He opened his mouth to say something about it, but kept his mouth shut. Riley regarded him for a few seconds and then spoke again. "Ask me that again after you talk to your dad."

* * *

"So, Jo, are you ready for your debut?" Patrick asked as he grinned over at his blonde-haired friend.

"I think I'm going to puke!" Jo replied before hurrying into the bathroom.

"Nice job Patrick, we had her perfectly fine with the idea and then you go and make her have to puke." Camille replied as she shook her head slowly. "_What_ have I told you about saying things before you think?"

"Sorry." Patrick replied, frowning a little.

"It's not your fault, dude." James stated as he rubbed Patrick on her shoulder. "Jo always gets a little nervous when it comes to singing in front of people." Big Time Rush, DarkElements, Jo, Camille, WayneWayne, Katie, and Stephanie were all gathered in BTR's dressing room, where they had set up a small area for Jo to get ready. So they were now there to give her some moral support before she went out to start the concert.

"Jo, you're going to do fine!" Stephanie called as she knocked on the door. "We've heard your song and you were great."

"That was before I had to sing in front of thousands of people!" Jo's voice came back out from the closed bathroom door.

"30,000 to be exact." Patrick spoke up again and then smiled. "We have a sold out show."

"Not helping!" Noah and Katie said in unison as they slapped him on the back of the head.

"Wow, I don't think I've ever seen stage fright this bad before." Rhuben commented, looking concerned. "Hey, maybe she can just do that thing where she imagines the audience in their underwear." James looked offended. "And she can't do that _of course _because James only want her to think that _he's _hot." She stated, rolling her eyes.

"You have to admit that it's true." James replied with a grin directed towards her.

"Well, we only have about two minutes left," Logan commented as he looked at his watch. "How are we going to get her out of the bathroom and onto the stage?"

"We could always bribe her." WayneWayne suggested and then looked thoughtful. "What does she like most in the world?"

"Me." James replied.

"Ok, we're going to _ignore_ James' narcissism for a moment." Kendall stated as he shoved his friend on the arm. "Now, I have a plan to getting her out of there."

"You _know_ she can hear you, right?" Noah asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"How long will it take for your plan to get her out of the bathroom?" Katie asked her brotherly eagerly. Kendall looked at the ceiling in thought and then shrugged.

"That depends," he replied slowly. "How long would it take to get some stink bugs in here?"

"Oooh, let's go with that plan!" Carlos stated eagerly as he jumped up and down in excitement. "Although," he rubbed his chin. "I think that making stink _bombs_ would be better and more fun."

"Carlos!" Stephanie grabbed her boyfriend by the ear and dragged him over to the couch. "Sit down!" She forced him down, where he sat obediently and quietly, slightly afraid of his girlfriend.

"Or you can just do this," Riley grabbed a chair and dragged it across the room until it was directly under the smoke detector. She fished her lighter from her pocket, flicked it open, and held it up to the smoke detector until it went off. As Jo came charging out of the bathroom, Noah and Sydney grabbed onto her and Riley quickly turned off the smoke alarm. "Gotcha." She grinned.

"If you weren't one of my girlfriends I would kill you." Jo vowed.

"I'm sure that you would," Sydney replied patiently. "But you wouldn't want a death on your hands. "Jo, how about I sing with you today, so you can get over your stage fright." He offered.

"Really?" Jo looked skeptical.

"Yeah," Sydney nodded. "Do you know our song _Lose It_?"

"One of my favorites."

"Then there you go!" Sydney grinned. "I'll sing with you today."

"Has anyone ever told your brother that he's a _huge _suck up?" James whispered to Patrick and Noah, who nodded in reply.

* * *

"I'm sick of smiling, and so is my jaw. Can't you see my front is crumbling down?" Riley sang as Patrick and Noah skipped back and forth across the stage, playing their guitars. "I'm sick of being someone I'm not." She made a face for the camera that panned down in front of her and smiled. "Please get me out of this slump"

"I'm sick of clapping, when I know I can do it better for myself." Patrick sang and smiled at Jo, Camille, Stephanie, and Katie who were in the very front row of the audience, singing along. Riley backed away from her microphone, skipping to the side of the stage and bending down towards the teenage boys and girls that were there. "I'm sick of waiting, sick of all these words that will never matter."

Riley turned and ran back to Patrick's microphone and pressed her cheek against his as they sang together. "I wired these nerves together, hoping for a chance to think on time." Riley and Patrick sang, they couldn't keep the smiles off of their faces. "And I'm tracing over your letter, to see if your intentions are as good as mine."

"But you're getting worse" The five of them sang, using their own microphones. The audience screamed the 'uh-huh' back at the DarkElements as Noah held his microphone out to them. "I swear it. It's hard to prove you're an understatement. You're getting worse, and I know. You'll be calling, calling, calling me again"

"I'm done with everything that had to do with you" Noah sang as Riley and Patrick jumped across the stage to the beat of the song. "Don't worry; your pictures are already burned."

"I'm done with new friends," Sydney sang and then shook his head and smiled as he looked over at BTR and their friends, who were watching them from the audience. "Don't sell yourself short; you'll lose it in the end."

"I wired these nerves together, hoping for a chance to think on time. And I'm tracing over your letter, to see if your intentions are as good as mine" The two of them sang in unison.

As the DarkElements sang through the chorus, Patrick and Noah jumped into the crowd to crowd surf, and the security guards held onto their feet o make sure they wouldn't get swept away and then pushed them back onto the stage.

"I can't help how I feel. No, I can't help how I feel" Sydney sang into the microphone.

"But you're!" Patrick shouted and then Rhuben stopped playing the drums and stood up, holding the drumsticks in her hands.

"Getting worse, I swear it." She sang as the crowd screamed louder and louder. "It's hard to prove you're an understatement. You're getting worse, and I know." She slammed her drumsticks against the snare drum and the hi-hat, as Riley and Patrick did a back flip. "You'll be calling, calling, calling me again"

Riley, Patrick, and Noah held their microphones out to the audience for the audience. "Calling me again!" They shouted back.

"Calling me again!" Riley, Patrick, and Noah sang as they all moved to the middle microphone.

"But you're getting worse, I swear it. It's hard to prove you're an understatement. You're getting worse, and I know. You'll be calling, calling, calling me again"

"Thank you!" Sydney smiled and waved to the crowd as he moved out from behind the piano and headed to the front of the stage to give their bows.

Backstage, Julius, Brittany, Ronan, Kelly, Gustavo, and Kacy clapped along with the audience. "Wow, the Australia leg of the tour is already going really great." Ronan smiled and nodded over to Gustavo, how grunted and nodded back, not being one to agree with someone outright. Kelly exchanged looks with Kacy and the two rolled their eyes.

"And it's only the beginning." Julius grinned as he watched his siblings give their bows.

* * *

**A/N: Ok, this chapter was really long because I wanted to show some friendships and pairings before I got to the concert. (Each scenario of Rhuben and Logan, Patrick, Noah, and Katie, James and Sydney, and Riley, WayneWayne, and Kendall pretty much all happen at the same time I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, there was some fluff, some anger and annoyance at each other, and some humor all rolled into one. What else would you guys like to see? Next chapter has to do with them celebrating New Years and I have a great idea with that. I'll update again soon.**

**Oh and the New Year's chapter is going to have more of the adults. And you guys will actually see Jo sing in the next chapter as well. What else would you guys like to see?  
**

**Cheers,**

**-Riley**


	23. Big Time New Year's

**Chapter Twenty-Three – Big Time New Years**

**A/N: This is a lighthearted, humorous, friendship chapter.**

* * *

"Happy New Year!" Sydney shouted as he walked into the kitchen the morning of New Year's Eve. He beamed over at Ronan, who was sitting at the kitchen table, reading the newspaper and drinking a cup of coffee.

He smiled as he lowered the mug from his lips. "Baby Syd, New Year's isn't until tomorrow." He reminded his youngest son and then looked thoughtful. "Have you even made it until midnight on New Year's?"

"No, he hasn't." Julius announced his arrival as he and Brittany walked into the kitchen. He reached out and ran his fingers through his brother's hair as he passed. "Every year, he always falls asleep by the time it's 10." He explained and pulled himself up onto the counter, reaching behind his head into a cabinet to grab a box of Lucky Charms. "So it's not going to be any different this year, might as well plan it now." He grinned.

Sydney pouted and stuck out his lower lip. "Brittany," he stated in a whiny tone and pointed over at his oldest brother. "Julius making fun of me!"

"Julius Rhyder Jackson," Brittany planted her hands on her hips and playfully glared at her fiancée. "Don't make fun of your brother like that." Julius froze with his hand inside of the cereal box, looking shocked and annoyed as Sydney and Ronan laughed at him. "I'm just kidding." Brittany walked over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I just like to have any excuse to call you by your full name." She laughed as Sydney walked by and grabbed the box of cereal from Julius' hands.

"Yeah, I've noticed," Julius replied dryly and grabbed his brother, tickling him in the ribs. "As you seem to have some sort of sick amusement in getting mad at me just to call me by my full name." He added and then turned, giving her a smile before kissing her on the lips. "But it's one of the many things I like about you."

Brittany laughed and then cut it off abruptly. "Nice try, but you're still coming dress shopping with me."

"Darn," Julius rolled his eyes. "I thought I had managed to wriggle out of it this time." He looked up as Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, and Noah walked into the kitchen. "G'day." He greeted them and they cheerfully shot the greeting back towards him. "Everyone else still asleep?" He made a grunting sound as Riley grabbed the cereal box and shoved her hand inside as she nodded.

"Haven't you guys ever heard of cereal bowls?" Ronan questioned with a slightly horrified look on his face at the idea of all of their hands being shoved into one box.

"Yeah, but what's the point when you're only going to eat a handful of it anyway?" Patrick questioned with a short yawn as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Man, I'm so tired."

"How are _you_ tired?" Rhuben snorted. "You were the one that was blowing a hair dryer all night long, it's a wonder I was able to get any sleep." She shook her head and turned to her twin. "You're lucky that you chose the room away from the bathroom."

Riley grinned.

"So what are you guys up to today?" Ronan asked as he closed the newspaper and walked his mug of coffee over to the sink.

"It's New Year's," Riley replied slowly, but growing a little more hysterical as each second passed as she went on. "And Jo, Camille, and Stephanie all know that we like to have parties for basically every little celebration that we can have." She paused. "Which I love by the way," she added as an afterthought and then went back into hysterical mode. "Which means that they want to get some dresses for it and that means that we're going to be dress shopping all day long because they can never decide on a stupid dress."

"Well, would you mind if I came with you then?" Brittany asked as she turned to her soon to be sisters. "I need to get a dress myself and I should be able to make things go by quicker." She offered and then raised her eyebrows with a small smile on her face. "Plus, we can go to the Sporting Goods store so I can get some new soccer cleats."

"Sounds fine to me." Rhuben replied with a nod, Riley next to her, nodded as well. Brittany was half and half, half a tomboy and half a girly-girl and didn't mind showing both sides. In contrast Riley and Rhuben were massive tomboys, but had their girly sides every once in a while.

"Thanks, you helped me dodge a bullet with that one," Julius stated as he shook his head to the side, moving his hair out of his face. "Now I don't have to follow her around, carrying her bags." He wrapped his arms around Brittany's waist and rested his chin on top of her head as Brittany settled against his chest.

"I wouldn't make you do that," Brittany replied falsely and then looked at his brothers and sisters and winked, causing them to laugh.

"And us guys are probably gonna just…hang out around here and do absolutely nothing for hours." Noah replied with a half smile. "Except, you know, get in trouble, get yelled at, break a few things." He placed a hand by his mouth and discreetly pointed at Patrick. "Which we all know is going to happen."

"Should I leave some money behind to pay for the damage then?" Ronan asked jokingly.

"No, I was kidding," Noah shook his head, his eyes flashing a little. "We're probably just gonna go to the beach or into town or something."

"What about you?" Patrick asked, sitting in an unoccupied chair, grunting a little when Noah plopped himself into his lap. "What are you going to be doing all day?"

"Meh," Ronan shrugged one shoulder as he turned around and leaned against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest. "We'll think of something to do. I mean, our whole time can't revolve around you lot all the time."

"Sounds like a true parent." Rhuben commented sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Remind me again," she smiled sweetly at him, although her eyes were flashing mischievously. "How was it that you were the one that was the most suited to be our new Dad?"

"Oh, you're cute." Ronan replied dryly. He reached behind his back and turned on the water in the sink, wetting his fingers and then flicking them in her face. "Get out of here and start getting ready, the party is really soon and I want you guys to have some fun." He cleared his throat and added quickly. "Especially Sydney because he's going to be asleep by 10 o'clock anyway!"

"Hey!" Sydney cried indignantly as Ronan laughed and headed out of the room.

* * *

"Um…guys? Where are we going now?" Riley asked with a loud sigh as she twirled her car keys around her fingers. "We've been to practically every store in this mall and you still haven't picked a stupid dress yet. I don't think that there's any place left that we can go."

Jo looked at her like she had lost her mind. "Guess," she replied with a grin, although with a hint of sarcasm in her tone.

"But Guess is at the other end of the mall! And I thought you hated that place!" Rhuben exclaimed, trying not letting her annoyance show. Camille sent her a look, and then continued with the dragging. "What did _that_ look mean?" She demanded indignantly.

"Nothing, Rhu," Stephanie replied as calmly as possible, although it was obvious that she was trying not to laugh. "Nothing at all."

"Sure it did," Riley replied sarcastically, "So…where are we going?" When she got to answer she let out a loud groan. "Ugh, can we _please _just get something and leave." She motioned over to Katie, who looked pleased with a JC Penny bag in her hand. "I mean, even Katie already picked something out," she paused. "Which looks really cute by the way." She added, causing Katie to beam happily.

"Whoa," Brittany laughed, walking beside her. "Riley Jackson using the word cute never thought that I would ever head that in my life."

"Riles and I can be girly when we want to." Rhuben defended herself and her sister quickly. "We can be the girlies girls on the planet when we want to." She looked over at Jo, Camille, and Stephanie, who were looking at her skeptically. "Which isn't often." She added.

"You got that right." Jo agreed, but smiled at her to let her know that she was teasing.

Rhuben scowled at her. "I resent that, Jo." That was when she spotted Macy's looming ahead of her. "Nooooo! Not Macy's!" Rhuben practically yelled as she stopped on a dime, gaping at the store. "NOT MACY'S! I _hate _Macy's"

"Why not Macy's?" Camille asked as she placed her hands on her hips. "It's probably the best store that has clothes from the best fashion designers that are somewhat cheap."

Rhuben shook her head. "Riles and I offered to pay for you guys for something."

"And we said that we don't want you to pay for us for everything that we ever buy," Stephanie insisted as she held up her hands defensively. "I promise that we're going to be in here for twenty minutes tops." Riley and Rhuben continued to frown at her and then it was her turn to sigh as she rolled her eyes. "Then after that we can go to GameStop so you guys can get a new video game."

"Kay" Riley and Rhuben replied, immediately perking up.

Brittany laughed as they all started walking again. "That's the same thing I have to do to bribe Julius into doing something he doesn't want to do. It works every time." She shook her head, although she was laughing. "Must be a family thing."

Forty-five minutes and thirty-three dresses later, Jo had picked out a light pink dress with straps that tied around her neck and white boots to go with it, Stephanie had chosen a black and white dress that brought out her skin tone with white high-heels to match, Camille went with a strapless bright blue dress and silver high-heels, Brittany had chosen a pale green dress with a big bow in the back, and black high-heels to match. They had each found a dress along with the help of Katie, who had already gotten simple black one from JC Penny. Riley found a dress pretty quickly as she was only looking for a red one. She chose a strapless black dress with a red flower pin by her hip. It had a slit with red fabric at the bottom that went down to her knees.

Rhuben was the last one to find hers though. She was stuck between a mostly purple one and a mostly black one and had been trying to decide between the two for the past twenty minutes, even with the other girl's help.

"I don't really like this one." Rhuben finally said as she went to put the mostly purple one back on the rack.

"But I liked that one!" Camille exclaimed in protest.

Rhuben dumped it unceremoniously into her arms. "Then you can have it."

"But I already have my dress."

"Then stop complaining." Rhuben replied and stuck her tongue out and they all went to go pay for their dresses. Riley let out a little cheer, punching the air with her first while annoyingly stating that it took more than twenty minutes to pick out the dresses. "Hey," Rhuben turned to Stephanie and grinned. "She's right."

"Well," Jo said with a roll of her eyes, her hands on her hips "since we convinced—"

—Riley cut her off with a cough that sounded uncannily like the word "forced"—

"—Okay, forced you into buying a dress, we thought we let you choose where to eat our late lunch."

"Is it really that late?" Stephanie asked as she looked at her watch. "Wow, I guess it is. And I bet I know where she wants to eat…"

"PIZZA!" Riley and Rhuben yelled in unison and then looked at each other and laughed. Sometimes they didn't realize that they were thinking the same thing and were even shocked themselves when they said the same thing in the exact same way at the same time.

"Yes!" Katie agreed, punching the air. "That's _exactly _what I was thinking of." Her stomach growled loudly, causing the other girls to laugh. She pouted a little. "Don't laugh at me, you guys pulled me away only a few hours after I woke up, and I haven't eaten at all since then." She smiled at the bag that was on her shoulder. "But I think it was worth it, I really like this dress."

"Did you pick it for you or for Noah?" Brittany asked with a smile and a quick twitch of her eyebrows. Katie blushed and looked at her feet, shuffling them as she tried to come up with an answer. "No need to be embarrassed about it Kates, the only reasons girls like dresses so much is because it makes a guy realize how defenseless he is against girls and how we're the better sex."

"Ha," Riley snorted. "Try telling that Julius," she shook her head.

And with that, they set off through the mall, arms linked, in search for pizza.

* * *

So while the girls were out shopping for their dresses for that night, the guys were back at the Jacksons' house doing what they always get. Run around the front yard like a bunch of banshees doing who knows what. Well, this time they had thought of a lot of things, most of which were Carlos' ideas and were shot down due to them either being extremely stupid or that could possibly cause them to get sent to jail. But they quickly agreed on Sydney's suggestion of playing Capture the Flag, while using the front yard and the backyard as home base.

That idea was quickly agreed on and Kendall and Julius were the captains and the other seven boys were split into the two teams, having Sydney play on both sides as the game went on. And that's what they were doing now.

Kendall was the first on his team to get the flag. Surprise, surprise.

It didn't surprise Logan in the slightest. Sometimes he wondered if sports were specifically designed as an ego trip for him. Kendall is the most aggressive, the most athletic, the most competitive, and the guy who plays a sport every season without fail. When he's on your team he does everything; expectations for you are suddenly gone. With him around, you never have to run for a far hit in baseball, throw a single dodge ball across the court, nor anything else but stand and wait for him to single-handedly win the game.

It got on everyone's nerves, but this time it had just caused everyone else to play the game that much harder! Logan hung back on defense with Patrick, guarding their flag, ready to tackle anyone that got too close. Their flags were actually just bright blue bandanas and Julius' team's bandana slung over a hula-hoop, which in turn is hooked around the basketball hoop in the front yard.

WayneWayne and James were trying think of a plan to get to the flag and grab it off of the basketball hoop. Sean James, although he was narcissistic and looked like he wouldn't hurt a fly, he could get very vicious when it came to trying to beat Kendall.

By the time the score was tied 1 to 1 after a really spectacular run by Sydney, who pretended to not know what side he was on, ran around Kendall, grabbed the flag and went sprinting back across the line, barely dancing out of the way as Noah tried to grab him.

Unfortunately, because of that, all rules went flying out the window, the boys started tackling each other and dragging each other across the line, anything to make sure that they did or didn't get tagged. What started out as Kendall, Logan, James, and Carlos playfully ramming into each other, a show fueled purely by testosterone, has become way more intense.

For instance, when Carlos stole the flag from Kendall's side, he made the mistake of heading backwards, believing he will be able to loop back around to his side. However, Logan caught up to him and violently slams him up against the side of the house, laughing triumphantly.

"Get the flag! Get the flag!" WayneWayne shouted as he shuffled back and forth, trying to keep Kendall from getting over to his side.

Patrick though, took the chance and charged around the two of them and went sprinting towards the backyard, skipping around the edge of the pool to make sure he didn't fall in, before running directly to the flag that was tied to one of the legs of the fire pit.

"Watch out!" A voice called out, stopping him in his tracks. Patrick skidded to a stop and turned around, his eyes meeting a large red blob flying through the air. It rose into the air blotting the sun as a large cherry eclipse.

His whole body became numb as it enclosed, and time seemed to slow down as he was sealed with in his watery doom. He could see nothing but the balloon jiggling like jello wiggling as it is scooped up meeting a pair of opened lips. The balloon collided with Patrick's face and he felt for a moment the rubbery skin touching the tip of his dotted nose but as it came closer his nose punctured through the thin rubber. Like an explosion he was brought back from a wave of force and water. Patrick stood there, his mouth open in shock, as the water slowly dripped down him forming tiny rivers and streams flowing down his face to his water drenched shirt.

Blinking in slow comprehension as he stood, frozen. A large sneer of vengeance crept along his face.

Now it was on!

"Who threw that?" He demanded as everyone went to the backyard to see what had happened. Apparently Patrick had let out a cry of shock before he had gotten hit by the water balloon and it had caught the other guys' attention.

"Hahahahaha!" Carlos burst out laughing as he pulled his hand out from behind his back, showing him that he was holding onto a large water balloon. "You should have seen the look on your face!"

"Oh yeah," Patrick smirked and quickly sidestepped over to the hose that was lying in the front yard and grabbed it. "Then try this!" He turned on the water and squeezed the nozzle, sending water over his friends as he laughed hysterically. "Every man for himself!" He shouted and started chasing after WayneWayne while still spraying him with water.

"Oh you're going to pay for that one!" WayneWayne hurried over to the pool and grabbed a bucket that was floating in the water and scooped up some water before turning around to splash it at Patrick, but he quickly grabbed Sydney and held him up as a human shield.

"Hey!" Sydney cried, spluttering against the water that was thrown at him.

Laughing, Patrick dropped his brother and all hell broke loose. The nine boys then ran back and forth across the yard, splashing each other with water and calling each other names as they did so. Eventually they had all grabbed a super soaker and had, unknowingly, run into the house as they continued to shoot each other with water guns. It wasn't until the phone rang that Noah stopped what he was doing and went to answer it.

"Hoo roo" He answered the phone and then lightened up when he heard Ronan's voice. "Hey Dad, what's up?"

"I'm on my way back from the grocery store, but I had to stop and get some gas," Ronan explained. "I'm going to drop off the food and then head out to my party with Kelly, Gustavo, and Kacy before we all head over to the bridge at 11."

"What?" Noah asked, suddenly panicking as he looked down at the water gun in his hand.

"I said-"

"I heard what you said!" Noah replied quickly and slammed the phone down back on the receiver.

"What's up Maestro?" Julius questioned as he held up a hand, to get everyone else to cease fire. He looked Carlos up and down warily before slowly lowering his gun and turning back to his brother. "You look like you're about to have a heart attack."

"You're going to too," Noah replied, his eyes wide. "Dad's on his way home!"

"So?" Patrick asked, raising and lowering one shoulder.

"Pat, he-"Sydney lightly tugged on Logan's pants pocket, getting him to stop talking. "What?" he questioned, looking down at the younger boy.

"Just wait for it," he instructed as he shook his head. "He'll get it in about three seconds." He nodded over towards his older brother and started to lower his fingers as Patrick looked at his twin blankly. All of a sudden, he let out a gasp and his eyes widened. "There you go, he gets it!"

"Quick, how long do you think we have?" Julius asked, taking charge of the situation, turning to Logan.

"Well, I don't know," he rambled quickly. "It depends on what car he's driving, what gas station he's at, and the traffic-"

"Logan!" Kendall, James, Carlos, and WayneWayne shouted, to get him to get to the point.

"Ok, ok," Logan thought quickly, not liking how he was being put under pressure. "Um, five minutes tops!" He looked around the room. "And that's not a lot of time to clean this place up, it's practically under water!"

"Oh please," Julius snorted as he tossed his water gun aside. "You can't be in my family if you don't know how to clean up a mess really fast." He wiped his hands off on the sides of his jeans. "Ok, Madden, Maestro, and Midget," he pointed to his brothers. "You three get the hair dryers and start drying the couch. "James and Carlos, you two get all of the towels from the closet and start drying off the walls." He pointed to Kendall, Logan, and WayneWayne. "You guys help me get the water off of the ceiling and off of the floors!"

"Gotcha!" Sydney saluted and he and his brothers hurried to the bathrooms to get the hair dryers as James and Carlos hurried to the hall closets to get towels.

Julius led WayneWayne, Kendall, and Logan into the kitchen and then grabbed mops and started to clean off the ceilings and the floors. They all cleaned as fast as they could, each screaming at each other whenever they would slow down. Patrick, Noah, and Sydney ran back and forth, juggling two hair dryers each on the highest setting them would go, trying to dry the couches. Each time, one of them would test it by jumping onto the couch to see if it made a squishing noise, sending water to the floor.

When James and Carlos had finished drying off the walls, Carlos had gone over to the front door to keep lookout and started jumping up and down, flapping his hands when he saw the Jacksons' black minivan pull into the driveway.

"He's back! Hurry!" He shouted.

"Hurry, hurry!" Julius grabbed the mops from Kendall, Logan, and WayneWayne and threw them haphazardly into the kitchen pantry, slamming the door shut. He ran through the kitchen and into the living room foyer, putting a bright smile on his face as he stood next to the other boys.

"Hey," Ronan greeted as he opened the front door and stepped inside. He closed the door behind him and turned around, jumping when he saw his sons and their friends grinning at him. "Stop that, it's really creepy!" he instructed and narrowed his eyes as he slowly moved towards them. "What are you doing with those hair dryers?" he asked, seeing them in his younger sons' hands.

"Nothing." They replied slowly as they moved it behind their backs.

"Dad," Julius spoke up and grabbed his father by the arm before he could get into the living room. "You do so much for us, why don't you just go and get changed, and we'll get the groceries out of the car for you!"

"Why do I have the suspicion that you guys are up to something?"Ronan asked as he slowly regarded the boys standing in front of him. Julius thought for a second and then opened his mouth again. "I don't want to know, I can save myself from a headache this time." He interrupted him and then turned and went up the stairs to get changed.

"Wow that was a close one." Julius breathed a sigh of relief as he turned around and gave his friends high-fives on a job well done.

"How were you able to manage to talk him out of checking what was wrong?" Carlos asked, looking genuinely impressed.

Julius smirked as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Please," he snorted. "Who do you think was the one that taught Rhuben and Riley how to do that?" He chuckled and blew on his knuckles before buffing them against his chest. "They learned from the master." He walked across the room and started to lower himself on the couch, not hearing Patrick, Noah, and Sydney's cries to stop him. Julius let out a grunt of disgust as his clothes were immediately soaked.

"We didn't finish drying that one." Sydney stated quietly.

"Now you tell me." Julius groaned.

* * *

After finally getting the living room dried up, Ronan had left, and the girls had gotten back to the house, everyone had quickly taken their showers and had gotten changed into their formal attire for the New Year's Party that they were going to down at the civic center. As soon as they had gotten there, Nic, Tristan, and Natasha Strong had bumped into the Jacksons and they had stopped, talking excitedly to them as the others continued around the party.

They met up with a lot of other celebrities, causing James to almost pass out when he bumped into Nicole Scherzinger. Carlos had laughed at him until he had bumped into Kim Kardashian, who talked with him for a full five minutes until Carlos said something stupid and slightly stalkerish to scare Kim and embarrass Stephanie.

"These parties are _so_ cool!" Jo gushed as the girls were taking a break of dancing to get something to drink. "You're lucky that you get to come to them all the time!"

"Meh," Riley raised and lowered one shoulder. "They're not that great, the ones for Christmas are better, because you can run around the beach, as its warm year round here." She smiled as he gaze moved behind Jo to a stage that had been set up as an open mic. "So, Jo, how did you feel, singing at our concert?"

"You were amazing, girl." Stephanie commented her. "I didn't know that you could sing so well!"

"Thanks." Jo blushed at the praise.

"I don't know how you could do it," Camille admitted as she shook her head. "I mean, I can handle being in front of a camera, but _singing_ in front of all of those _people_," she shook her head even harder as if trying to knock the thought out of her head. "I don't think that I would be able to do that."

"Oh you never know," Rhuben replied mysteriously. "You never know, she might shock you again."

"What does that mean?" Jo asked slowly, regarding her twin friends with suspicion.

"Oh not much," Rhuben stated as she looked at her nails nonchalantly. "Just that you're going to be performing tonight too. But a song of your own."

'What?" Jo, Stephanie, and Camille blurted in unison with different levels of shock.

"I can't do that!" Jo denied.

"Sure you can," Riley insisted. "You were able to sing with Sydney before, now you're going to sing by yourself." She grabbed onto Jo's left arm as Rhuben grabbed onto her right and the two turned her around and started to shove her towards the stage. "Besides, if you don't do this now, you're never going to be able to start your own music career. I mean, why were you even at the Palm Woods?"

"I was working on my voice while possibly recording stuff." Jo resisted, trying to drag her feet along the ground. "I can't do this!"

"Yes you can!" Rhuben stated and gave her friend a hard shove on the back. "Listen," she placed her hands on her friend's shoulders and gently shook her. "We know that you can do this and to help you, we're going to be playing backup for you," she pulled a set of drumsticks out of her purse to add emphasis onto her last statement. "So if you get lost, look at us."

"You keep your drumsticks in your purse?" Jo questioned, giving her an odd look.

Rhuben shrugged. "It's better than keeping a guitar pick in your hair." She replied and Jo turned and looked at Riley, who reached her fingers up into the up doo that she had and pulled out a small red guitar pick. "I rest my case." She stated and then gently grabbed onto Jo's arm again. "You can do this, Jo, we know you can."

Jo took a deep breath and then nodded. "Alright," she agreed and gave a smile. "Let's do this!"

"Awesome!" Riley cheered. "I'll go get our brothers and you head up onto the stage!" She and Rhuben disappeared into the crowd before Jo could change her mind. She let out another deep breath and slowly shoved her way through the throng of dancing bodies and over to the stage. She climbed up and lightly tapped the microphone, sending feedback into the crowd. "Uh, hi." She greeted quietly and cleared her throat. "I'm, uh, I'm Jo Taylor and I'm, uh going to be singing a song I wrote." She greeted the crowd that had fallen silent, to listen to her. "I wrote it a while ago, and I tweaked it a lot, so I hope you guys like it."

She paused, her eyes growing wide as the Jacksons headed up onto the stage to grab the instruments that were set up. "What?" Sydney asked when he noticed her panicked expression as he readied himself behind a keyboard.

"What song am I going to do?" she whispered, holding her hand over a microphone. "I don't think you guys know-"

"Yeah," Patrick looked apologetic as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I kinda, uh," he coughed. "Stole a song from your room, you know, for us to learn, just in case." He started speaking faster as Jo stared at him. "It was just in case and if it helps we think it's a really good one." He cleared his throat again. "You know…the one…in your pink notebook." He trailed off and scuffed his foot against the stage.

"You're lucky you're cute or I would have beaten you for that," Jo warned before turning back to the microphone. She canned the audience and found her friends, who started to cheer for her, to give her some encouragement. "Thanks guys." She grabbed the microphone in her hands and angled it down to her mouth. "This song is called Wonderful Crazy."

She stepped back a few steps as Rhuben signaled her brothers and sister for the tempo of the song and they started to play the familiar tune that Jo had been working on over and over again. She stepped back up to the microphone and grabbed it in her hands. "Welcome to a new day; don't know what's on the way, but whatever it is, I'll be ready." She smiled towards her friends and started to dance a little on the spot. "On your mark, get set go, here's the show and the road." She smiled over at James. "But with you, it's a load I can carry. And with each breath, I will take it, every moment, gonna make it."

Jo smiled over at Patrick and he nodded for her to continue as they moved into the chorus. "It's a wonderful crazy; it's a beautiful out of control." Jo ran her fingers through her hair and shook her head back and forth, causing her hair to fly in her face. "Kinda scary amazing, but I don't really mind at all. It's like I'm falling, flying, laughing, crying, hanging on and letting go. 'Cause my life's so wonderful crazy."

Jo picked the microphone up off of the stand and started to walk back and forth across the stage along with the beat of the song. "Some days get intense and I break down my defense. But I'm here and I'm not giving up" She waved over to Camille and Stephanie, who were jumping up and down and singing along with her, as they had heard the song numerous times before as well. "Gonna take in the sights on the ride of my life, living just to survive's not enough. So much love to discover, I don't need any other."

"It's a wonderful crazy; it's a beautiful out of control." Jo belted into the microphone as Riley and Rhuben sang up back up, their voices easily blending in with hers. "Kinda scary amazing, but I don't really mind at all. It's like I'm falling, flying, laughing, crying, hanging on and letting go. 'Cause my life's so wonderful crazy."

"And I'm reeling, but embracing that feeling," Jo danced across the stage over to Patrick and ruffled his hair, laughing as he gave her an annoyed look. "Of the strange and the new." She walked back across the stage, smiling at the audience as they seemed to be really enjoying her song. "Of the love I found in you." She bent down and sang towards James, smiling as he blushed and smiled back at her.

Jo moved through the final chorus of the song again, getting really into it as she started to jump up and down and dance around the stage, grinning like a maniac. When she finished, she was smiling the biggest smile that anyone had ever seen and gave a bow, waving to the crowd as she stepped down from the stage.

James was the first one to reach her and grabbed her in a big hug, rocking her back and forth. "Oh my gosh, you did such an amazing job!" He congratulated her before giving her another hug.

"Wow, now I understand how you guys feel when you're on stage all the time!" Jo replied breathlessly as she accepted hugs from her other friends. "That was such a blast!"

"You should open for us from now on." Rhuben stated as she and her siblings appeared behind her. "You sing _much_ better than these guys do!" She added teasingly towards Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and James.

"Thanks for that," Kendall replied sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. "I'm really feeling the love here."

"No problem!" Sydney replied cheekily.

"Oh hey," Riley looked at her watch and then over to her brothers and sisters. "It's almost midnight guys, we have about a half hour, and we need to get going!" She turned back to her friends. "We have a _big_ surprise for you guys and we need to get going now or we're going to be late! Kelly, Gustavo, Dad, and Mama Knight should be there already!"

"Can't you tell us what's going on?" Stephanie questioned as they grabbed their things from the coat closet and headed back out to the limo.

"Then what would be the point of the surprise?" Noah snorted as he hooked his arm through Katie's and looked back and forth across the parking lot before leading her towards the car door.

"You guys have too much fun with surprises." WayneWayne remarked and then leaned close to Camille. "I wouldn't be surprised if they're leading us to be blown up." He murmured in her ear. Camille just laughed and shoved him on the arm. "You know that somehow they have the ability to do that."

"Hey don't worry," Julius reassured them as he and Brittany took up the rear. "No one is going to be able to die or get maimed from this surprise it's a really good one."

"Yeah," Patrick spoke up with a nod. "Do you guys remember when we went up to the Hollywood sign to make s'mores and stuff before we left to go on that short tour?" He grinned as everyone else, besides WayneWayne who wasn't there, made sounds of acknowledgement. "Well this is better. Trust us."

"I thought you hated surprises." Logan remarked to Rhuben, who smirked back at him.

"I do when it's a surprise kept from me." She grinned playfully. "But if it's a surprise for someone else, I love them!" she declared.

Julius held open the door and they all clambered into the limo and headed towards the surprise. It took only a few minutes before they arrived at the Sydney Harbor Bridge. "So, what are we doing here?" James shouted over the loud roar. "And what's that sound?"

"Every year we ring in the New Year with a _massive_ party by the Sydney Opera House!" Julius shouted back. "And every year there is a celebrity to be the one to set off the first fireworks to celebrate the New Year from the top of the bridge!" he pointed up. "And, if you haven't guessed, the DarkElements were chosen this year and you guys get to come up with us!"

"Up that?" Camille questioned, pointing as well, her eyes wide.

"Don't worry, you're going to be strapped in," Sydney reassured her. "There's no way that you can fall, and they give you shoes for it," he pointed down to her feet. "Because those heels are definitely not going to help you with traction!"

"Wow, this is going to be so awesome!" Kendall declared, always the one to be up for anything.

"Let's go then, you don't want to miss it." Brittany pulled her long blond hair into a ponytail land led the way over to the entrance of the bridge. The girls swapped their shoes and then put on windbreakers before being clipped onto the bridge and starting the walk up.

As they went up, they all marveled over the view and all of the lights of the city below them. When they arrived at the top, they were greeted by Ronan, Kelly, Gustavo, and Mrs. Knight who had gotten there only moments before.

"Can you guys believe this view?" Kelly asked as she waved her arm out to look at all of the lights. "And look at all the people down there!" She added.

"Ha! They look like ants!" Gustavo remarked as he took a glimpse as well.

"_Everybody _looks like ants compared to you, Gustavo." Kendall replied with a laugh. Whether it was because of the New Year of because of him being in a good mood, Gustavo didn't reply. To Kendall's amazement, he just laughed along with everyone else.

"Thirty seconds left guys," Ronan said and handed the Jacksons a long rope before handing Sydney a microphone. "Get ready!"

"Hey guys!" Sydney shouted into his microphone, tightly holding onto the railing of the bridge as he leaned down a little. "Are you ready for the New Year?" He grinned as there was a loud roar of cheering in response to his question. "Ok, so we have 10 seconds!" he stated, looking at his phone.

He started the countdown as he moved over and stood next to his brothers and sisters, holding onto the large rope that led to the fireworks.

"10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…_HAPPY NEW YEAR!"_

At the stroke of midnight, which started off 2011, Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney tugged on the large rope, setting fireworks off into the sky. The sky erupted into brilliant flashes of bright colors as they, their friends, and the large crowd below celebrated the New Year.

"Happy New Year, guys!" Kendall grabbed Logan, Carlos, and James in a group hug, slapping each of them on the back as the others continued to jump up and down, cheering. "We really deserve it!"

"Thanks, dude!" James gave him a hug back before turning to Jo and giving her a kiss.

Kendall made a face, but then gave Katie a hug before the three of them went over to their mother and gave her a hug as well. "Happy New Year, mom!" The chorused, shouting as loud as they could to be heard.

"Happy New Year," Kacy replied and gave each of them a kiss on the side of the head. "I know that this one is going to be even better for you guys than it was before." She reached up and ran her fingers through Kendall's hair and gently stroked his cheek. "Especially for you, I know how hard things have been for you."

"You know what the best thing about a New Year is, mom?" Katie asked as she wrapped her arms around Kendall's waist and rested her cheek on his side. She smiled up at her brother. "It's a clean slate for everyone."

Kendall smiled back at her.

* * *

**A/N: And there you guys go, a more light hearted chapter that had a little bit of everything and everybody. I hope that you guys enjoyed it. It was kind of a filler chapter, but I still loved it. The next chapter has Julius' and Brittany's wedding and all of the chaos that's bound to happen there. I hope you guys can wait for it! :D I just realized while writing the guys playing Capture the Flag, I completely forgot who was on whose side, so sorry if I confused anyone. This chapter focused on the teens and since the wedding is split into two chapters, the next one is focused on the adults.**

**And I bet you're thinking 'It's not possible for you to get on top of the bridge and set off fireworks' well, it's also not possible to have a bonfire by the Hollywood sign, but I put that in my first story. And its fiction so I can put it in here if I want to.**

**Cheers,**

**-Riley**


	24. Big Time Wedding Part 1

**Chapter Twenty-Four – Big Time Wedding Part 1**

* * *

"Where are you going?" Gustavo asked as he pulled down his sunglasses and looked up as Ronan walked across the grass of the front yard over to him, Kelly, and Kacy. The three of them were sitting in beach chairs on the front lawn of the Jacksons' house.

"What _you_ doing?" Ronan asked with a laugh as he looked at them, a funny expression on his face. "I'm guessing that you guys are finally taking a break from everything that has probably been stressing you out for the past couple of months." He guessed.

"Exactly," Kelly agreed as she lowered her magazine and smiled up at him. "I mean what better place than Australia to relax? The beach is a few minutes' walk away, you can drive into town, look at all of the historical sites, and the next concert isn't for another week."

"Have you guys moved since this morning when you came out here?" Ronan asked as he shielded his face from the sun.

"Nope." Kacy, Kelly, and Gustavo replied in unison.

"Ok, but what are you going to do when you get thirsty or hungry?" Ronan continued to question.

"That's simple," Gustavo sat up in his chair and picked up a megaphone that was sitting by his chair and turned it on. "DOGS!" he shouted in the microphone, causing Ronan to jump back and slap his hands over his ears. Ronan looked up and watched, dumbfounded, as Carlos hurried outside, holding onto a giant fan, Logan was right behind him carrying a couple cups of lemonade, James carried a plate of sandwiches, and Kendall was carrying a stack of magazines.

"Normally I wouldn't condone with this kind of behavior towards the boys," Kacy stated with a smile as she took a glass of lemonade from Kendall. "But it's nice to be waited on hand and foot every now and then."

"Thanks for that life-lesson mom." Kendall groaned as he rolled his eyes.

"Don't forget that I can ground you for basically any reason that I want," Kacy stated as she looked at her son over the top of her sunglasses. "I'm your mother, I can do that." Kendall's eyes widened and he quickly scurried away.

Ronan laughed at his friends and shook his head. "You guys crack me up," he commented and then looked at his watch. "We're going to be back later, we have to go to the wedding rehearsal."

"Don't people usually do those…things, at night?" Gustavo questioned.

"Have you never been to a wedding before?" Kelly asked as she turned to him. She then held up a hand as Gustavo opened his mouth to reply. "Never mind, I either don't want to know the answer or already know it, either way I don't really care." She flipped open the magazine again.

"Ok, so how did they talk you into this?" Ronan asked as he turned to Big Time Rush, who still hovered near their chairs, waiting to be told if they could go.

"Gustavo pretty much threatened our lives if we didn't do what he said," Kendall replied with a shrug and then gave a sheepish smile. "Plus, my mom deserves the break."

"She threatened you too?" Ronan guessed.

"Exactly."

"Uh-huh," Ronan turned back towards the house as Julius and Brittan walked out of the front door and towards the cars. "Where's everyone else?" he asked them and then sighed when he got a shrug in reply. "Hey!" He called loudly towards the house. "You all have three seconds to get out of the house or you're going to be in big trouble!" Seconds later, the Jacksons walked outside, all grumbling with their arms crossed over their chest.

"Do we _have _to go?" Patrick grumbled, scratching his neck. "It's one of our last few days off." He rolled his eyes. "It's not like it even matters if we're there or not, it's just a rehearsal."

"The rehearsal is a _very_ important part of a wedding." Brittany replied patiently, if she had heard the annoyed tone of Patrick's voice, she ignored it. "It's pretty much a run through to make sure that nothing with the wedding can go wrong." The Jacksons didn't seem swayed.

"Not unless the wedding is doomed from the start." Gustavo reminded her.

"Shut up," Ronan replied quickly and then swung his keys around his finger as he turned to his kids. "We're going to the rehearsal, you don't have a choice, and you're going to be happy about it." He gave an amused look as Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney gave forced smiles. "That's better, now let's go."

"What do you think that was about?" James asked as he moved his hair from his face, jumping as Gustavo reached out and swiped some sandwiches from his hands. "I thought they were excited for the wedding."

"I don't know." Logan replied as he watched the car leave, a concerned expression on his face.

* * *

"Alright, is everyone here to start practicing the wedding processional?" Mrs. McNabb, Brittany's mother questioned as she looked around the chapel.

"No." came the bored reply from Riley and Rhuben, from where they were sitting in a pew, their chin in their hands.

"Who's missing?" Noah asked as he moved his hair out of his face.

"Matt and Mike and Kelsey and Amanda." Julius replied with a wave of his hand. "But we already knew that, so we can get everything else done without them and give them everything they need to know tonight and tomorrow before the wedding."

"Alright then." Ronan replied with a slightly horrified look on his face. "Because _that's_ going make everything go well." He added under his breath as he turned away so they wouldn't hear what he had said. "Ahem," he cleared his throat. "Anyway, I think that right now we should figure out the order of the processional."

"What's a processional?" Sydney asked as he turned his attention to them, putting down the soda can that he had been drinking ever since he got there.

"You know what that is," Noah stated patiently as he rolled his eyes. "It's when we all walk in like a bunch of robots to the wedding song, wait for them to say their vows, and then we go and take a bunch of pictures before eating cake!"

"Good cake!" Patrick agreed with a nod and a bright smile. He then frowned a little. "Probably the only good thing about weddings."

"Would you knock it off?" Julius asked as he turned to face his brother. "Your bad attitude is really getting on my nerves, Madden."

Patrick stuck his tongue out in reply, but didn't say anything.

"Let's get started." Mrs. McNabb clapped her hands together loudly.

"Uh oh," Sydney muttered to himself as he squeezed his legs together and placed on hand on his stomach. He turned to his brothers and sisters. "I have to…" Sydney began, but no one heard.

"Now, first, Matt and Amanda and Mike and Kelsey will go down the aisles." Mrs. McNabb waved a hand in the air, as they weren't there. "Then Rhuben and Noah`, you walk down the aisle, okay?" Mrs. McNabb was instructing everyone. Then Patrick and Riley follows after they are half way down the aisle, then Crystal and Sydney, after Patrick and Riley half way down the aisle. Got it?" She explained.

"Uh huh," everyone replied.

Then the music began to play.

Sydney bit his lower lip and looked around frantically as his brothers and sisters started to walk down the aisle as Julius and Brittany watched, trying to figure out if anything were to go wrong with the pacing of it. He was sweating and he was afraid. He also had to go to the washroom quite badly and the fright made it worse. But Sydney went down the aisle as fast as possible.

"Syd! Not so fast!" Julius called. Sydney shot him an impatient glare and Julius' eyes furrowed together in confusion as he looked back at his baby brother. "Just…go back and do it again, please." He suggested.

So Sydney turned back around and hurried back up to the top of the aisle, but he still had to go to the bathroom, just as badly, if not worse. So Sydney scrunched his legs together and tried his best to hold it as he walked down the aisle, holding onto the pillow where the rings were going to go, but it was hard, as he had had a lot of soda that day.

"Syd, why are you walking funny?" Noah questioned as he turned his attention to his baby brother.

"I have to go to the bathroom!" Sydney whispered back through clenched teeth, his eyes wide and staring straight ahead.

"Then why didn't you go before we started this?" Patrick asked as he turned to him.

"I didn't have to go then!" Sydney snapped back.

"What's wrong?" Mrs. McNabb as she waved her arms, causing the piano player to stop

"I didn't _want_ to be the ring bearer!" Sydney shouted as he threw the pillow the ground. "I didn't want to come to this stupid rehearsal anyway!" He turned around and scampered out of the chapel.

"Hey don't worry about it," Ronan stated as he looked over at Julius and Brittany, who looked shocked and confused. "They've been on edge for a while; it's nothing to worry about." He turned his back on them and bit his thumbnail. '_But it might actually be something to worry about_.'

* * *

Bounce.

Julius felt the rough grips of the basketball as it touched his finger tips.

Bounce.

The ball hit the black paved road of his driveway.

Bounce.

It felt cool as it passed between his right and left hand. The sound of it hitting the pavement echoed in the silence of the night. Julius held the ball in his right hand, making a perfect L shape with his arm. He saw the basket.

Swish.

He gave a little smile as the ball bounced up and down on the ground. He picked it up and shot a quick lay-up before going back to dribbling the ball. He stepped up the free-throw line he had marked on the driveway. Right foot planted perfectly in the middle, pointing directly at the basket. The ball spun between his hands as he looked at the hoop.

Spin. Dribble. Spin. Pull up pants. Dribble. Spin. Swish.

He stood there for a while, spinning the basketball in his hands, as his blue eyes staring up at the stars.

"Has anyone ever told you that you and your brothers and sisters are so similar it's not even funny?" Ronan asked as he walked over to the boy, startling him out of his thoughts. Julius turned around and saw Kelly, Kacy, and Gustavo behind him and remembered that they had said that they were going for a walk right after dinner.

Dinner was really tense and odd feeling for everyone. Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney had kept mostly quiet, but would snap at anyone if they asked them a question and were the first ones to leave the table with quick, angry strides. They even refused to play video games or watch TV with their friends like they had been doing for the past week. They didn't even look that happy when they had gone to work on one of the final episodes of the season of their show, not even after they told Camille that she was going to have a guest role on the show.

They were just mad.

"What do you mean?" Julius asked.

"You haven't noticed?" Gustavo barked as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Each of you has this really creepy way of coping with anger by not talking and doing something else, apparently you choose to play basketball, while the little monsters you call brothers and sisters choose to terrorize me."

"It sounds like them." Julius cracked humorlessly.

"What's wrong, Julius?" Kacy asked gently as the four adults walked over to him. "Did you and Brittany have a fight? She left pretty quickly."

"That's not it." Julius replied shortly.

"Then what is it?" Kelly asked as she raised her eyebrows. "Don't forget that you can talk to us about anything, we don't treat you like the others, we treat you like you're one of us," she smiled a little. "Because you and Brittany are one of the few people that actually act like adults around here."

"Thanks for that." Ronan replied sarcastically.

"I don't know," Julius sighed and spun the basketball around his finger. "I'm not sure…if I'm ready to get married to Brittany."

"Ah, cold feet." Gustavo stated as he nodded slowly, understandingly.

"It's not cold feet," Julius denied and then his shoulders slumped. "I guess, I don't know, I love her like crazy and know that I wouldn't be able to live without her, but I'm not sure if now is the right time for me to be getting married." He then started to pace a little. "But if we continued to put it off, it would take a while to do."

"Well, Julius, none of us can really answer that question for you," Kacy stated with a small smile. "I mean, you pretty much answered the questions of whether or not you love her and how long you would wait, but the decision is ultimately up to you."

"That's not all that's bothering you, is it?" Ronan asked, looking at his son.

"I'm just wondering how the others are taking it," Julius replied, speaking of his brothers and sisters. "I know that they like her, but still, it's a big change and Patrick isn't one for change and it takes them a really long time to warm up to someone new, let alone someone that's going to join the family."

"Do you know how long it took for Riley and Rhuben to like me?" Ronan snorted and then jerked his thumb over to Kelly, Gustavo, and Kacy. "Or them for that matter? Then in the long run they know that we care about them." He looked at Gustavo. "Some more than others."

"Ain't that the truth?" Gustavo agreed with a grunt.

"So, just go with what your heart is saying." Kelly finally spoke up. "If you want to marry her tomorrow, marry her tomorrow, if not, we know that she'll wait for you." She reached out and slapped Julius' shoulder. "Just know that we're going to be behind whatever you decide, and if it is the marriage, don't be surprised if Gustavo eats all of the food before you get there." She stated and elbowed Gustavo in the stomach.

Julius laughed as Ronan waved and weaved his arms with Kacy's again and the four of them continued walking down the street."So what do you think it is?" Kacy asked as she moved her hand to grip onto Ronan's, she could feel that it was shaking slightly. "Ronan are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm good." Ronan replied and ran a hand over his face. "I think I'm just scared for him, I mean, his brothers and sisters are mad at him for who knows what reason and we don't know if this marriage is going to work out."

"Is that supposed to be a reference to me?" Kacy asked as she stopped walking and looked at him sharply, placing her hands on her hips. "Because I'm doing perfectly fine as a single mother, if you haven't noticed."

"I don't think that's what he meant," Kelly jumped in quickly. "He's just worried about everyone, this is a big step in their lives and they've already gone through so much already." She turned and smiled sweetly at Ronan. "Just don't forget that we'll help you with whatever you need help with."

"Yeah, its kind of what we owe you," Gustavo added. "Since your kids are the only ones that can stop the dogs from being so stupid."

Ronan laughed.

* * *

Julius continued to play basketball for another twenty minutes before the garage door opened and closed and he heard footsteps heading his way. Julius looked up and gave a small smile when he saw Logan walking over to him, his hands shoved into his shorts pockets.

"What's up?" he questioned.

"Not much," Logan replied with a slight head tilt. "I just wanted to talk."

"About what?" Julius asked as he took a shot at the basket, the ball easily sinking into the hoop.

"Your brothers and sisters," Logan replied as he stood off to the side and watched as Julius continued to take shot after shot. "I think I know why they've been acting kind of funny." He cleared his throat. "Actually, they've been acting the same way that they did when I first met up with them in LA." He started to ramble, showing his nervousness. "It's kind of interesting, they-"

"What are you talking about, Logan?" Julius sighed the questioned as he grabbed the basketball that bounced back towards his face and balanced it against his hip, turning to face the younger boy. "Just spit it out."

"I think that the reason that your brothers and sisters have been acting this way lately is because they feel that you haven't spend much time with them, and now you're going to go out and get married and leave them again." Logan finally admitted, after hesitating for a second.

"What do you mean?" Julius' eyes narrowed a fraction of an inch, but Logan could tell that he was angry.

"I mean," Logan sighed a little, not wanting to be the bearer of bad news. "Think about it, you were in a coma for three years when they were being beaten by…Robert," Logan was never sure what to call him anymore. "Then when you got out of the coma and found them, you, mostly, stayed back in Australia to continue with your schooling and then get money to try and take them from him. But before that could happen, you all got adopted by Ronan and then you worked as their manager/co-producer and now you're getting married. You haven't really spent time with them one-on-one in a long time."

"And you think that that's why they've been being so rude and moody lately?" Julius asked to confirm it.

"That's what I think," Logan agreed with a nod. "But it would make sense as to why Riley and Rhuben are annoyed and-"

"And you know them better than anyone else because you're their best friend." Julius said to himself more than Logan. He sighed again and looked at the basketball that was in his hands. "That _does_ make a lot of sense." He admitted. "I'm the worst big brother, ever."

"No you're not," Logan shook his head. "Ever since I've known Landy and Bella when we were back in Texas, all they talked about was 'Julius' this and that." He gave a reassuring smile. "They love you like crazy and want you to be happy, but don't forget that they're the ones that put others before themselves, but after a while they're going to crack and show their emotions."

"Thank you." Julius nodded and chest passed Logan the basketball in his hands. "For everything, for being there for my sisters and for being a good friend," he stated when Logan looked at him oddly. "Even though I don't know you that well." He added with a laugh. "But I hope I get to soon, especially since you might be the one that walks my sister down the aisle."

"I didn't think that far ahead." Logan replied, thankful that it was dark as he started to blush a little.

"You don't have to." Julius replied with a half smile. "You're good for her, no one else can compare." He slapped the basketball, clearing his throat. "Thanks for the advice." He stated and dropped the ball and headed back into the house.

"No problem," Logan called after him and looked at the basketball before grabbing it himself. "Glad to help." He aimed the basketball towards the hoop and took a shot. "I just hope that I did the right thing and didn't meddle too much." He muttered to himself. "But I guess I'll find out tomorrow."

The basketball hit the backboard and dropped through the hoop, bouncing back to the ground.

* * *

**A/N: This is one of my shorter chapters, but it has to do with the adults while doing the wedding rehearsal. But the next one will be even longer because it has to do with the whole day as well as the wedding ceremony, so get ready for a lot of fluff with the pairings in this story as well as humor and friendship and family moments in the next chapter. I hope you guys liked it!**

**Cheers,**

**-Riley**


	25. Big Time Wedding Part 2

**Chapter Twenty-Five – Big Time Wedding Part 2**

* * *

"What are you doing?"

Sydney yawned quietly and looked up from the carton of ice cream and blinked rapidly as Julius flipped on the kitchen lights. "We're eating ice cream, what does it look like?" he responded and dug his spoon into the chocolate ice cream again, smiling as he took out a large chunk of brownie. Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, and Noah ignored their older brother and continued eating quietly.

"It looks like you're getting fat at three in the morning." Julius remarked and grabbed a spoon out f the drawer and sat down next to his brother and scooped out a chunk of the ice cream as well. Sydney silently shrugged and continued eating. "Listen, guys, I think I know why you've been acting so aggro lately."

"We haven't been acting aggro." Patrick defended himself.

"So your mean streak is normal?" Julius asked as he twitched an eyebrow, speaking around a mouthful of ice cream. "I mean, that's normal for Riley, but that's really out of character for the rest of you." He pointed his spoon at Noah and Sydney. "Especially you two."

"So we're bummed," Noah shrugged one shoulder. "So what?"

"What are you bummed about?" Julius questioned casually.

Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney glanced at each other and then looked down, staying silent. Julius sighed and then turned to Sydney and kept his eyes on him. Sydney shifted in his seat, looking at Julius out of the corner of his eye, then bit his lip and made a whimpering sound as Julius continued to stare.

"We don't want you to leave, alright!" Sydney finally burst out.

"Way to stay strong, Syd." Rhuben commented sarcastically.

"What are you talking about?" Julius asked incredulously. "I'm not leaving, yes I'm getting married in the morning," he looked at his watch. "Later today," he corrected himself. "But after the honeymoon we're going to be back and working with you guys."

"That's not what he means," Noah commented and brushed his hair from his face, his hand shaking slightly. "What he means is that you're going to be moving out, to who knows where, and starting your own family."

"Yeah, that's sort of the point." Julius stated. He then thought for a second and let out a noise of recognition as he sat up straight. "You're still suffering from separation anxiety, aren't you?" he quickly continued. "And don't try to deny it, when we were younger you practically screamed and cried each time you left the house."

"But that was only because they were so young we didn't really have anyone to play with." Rhuben declared as she motioned to Patrick, Noah, and Sydney. "They followed us everywhere!"

"Which is why you followed _me_ everywhere?" Julius cocked an eyebrow.

"So?" Riley looked annoyed. "There's no problem with that." Her features softened and she slumped into her chair. "I mean, it's not your fault that you haven't really been around as much for the past couple of years, but it's still hard to see you leaving us again."

"I'm _not_ leaving you," Julius insisted. "I want all of you to pay attention to me when I say this," he immediately got their attention. "No matter how far away I am from you guys I'm still your big brother and I'm still going to be looking out for you guys. Just call me and I'll be able to help you with whatever you need. Brittany too." He added and gave a half smile. "Don't forget that you're gaining a big sister as well as the rest of her family."

"Don't you think our family is big enough already?" Rhuben commented.

"Yes," Julius admitted. "But don't tell her that." He chuckled and then turned serious again. "I'm always going to be there for you guys, even when you think that I can't be. You know that right?"

"Yeah." Came the unanimous reply.

"Good," Julius smiled and smacked his spoon against the back of the carton and stood up. He then gave each of his brothers and sisters and kiss on the forehead. "Good night."

"You know _one_ good thing about the idea of you moving out is?" Sydney spoke up and smiled as Julius turned around, waiting for the answer. "We get more ice cream than you do." He smiled and stuck out his tongue before taking another bite of ice cream.

* * *

"So, can someone explain tom e why _we're_ getting dressed now when we still have two hours before the wedding is even close to starting?" James asked as he tried to tie the tie that was draped around his shoulders. "Fuck!" he cried when the knot slipped again.

The boys were getting dressed for the wedding and they were all gathered in the guest room that Kendall and Logan were sharing. Jo, Camille, Stephanie, and Katie were getting dressed in the room that the four of them were sharing.

"Here, let me." Logan walked over and started to quickly tie James' tie. "You know you can actually still do simple things, even if you have a cast on one arm." He added.

"I know," James grinned. "But it's better to have people do things for me than to do them myself."

"You're so lazy." Kendall commented as he straightened the collar of his pressed shirt before tying his tie himself. "Anyway, we're getting ready now because if we wait and leave later, we'll get stuck with all of the paparazzi and the guests that are going to the wedding." He finished and turned to the mirror. "I mean, think about it, the brother of the most famous band here is getting married, there's bound to be some sort of mob for pictures and stuff."

"Yeah, it's like the royal wedding that's supposed to happen soon," WayneWayne spoke up as he brushed his hair. He paused and shrugged. "Just less, you know, royal."

"That's a great way of putting it." Logan commented dryly as he laughed a little. He lifted his head and looked around. "Hey, where'd Carlos go?" he asked suddenly.

"Do you guys always get this worried whenever Carlos wanders off?" WayneWayne asked when he noticed the fearful expression on Logan's face as Kendall and James quickly looked around, only just then noticing the lack of hyperness in the room.

"Seriously, you're friends with us and you _still_ don't notice how things go from bad to worse whenever he wanders off?" James asked as he turned to WayneWayne, continuously running his fingers through his hair. "Ow!" He winced as he accidentally hit himself in the forehead with his cast. "God, I can't wait until this thing comes off."

"Don't be such a baby." Kendall remarked and opened the door to the room. The guys then walked down into the living room, where Jo, Camille, Stephanie, and Katie were waiting and already dressed. "How is it possible that you guys were finished before we were, that's like, scientifically impossible." He teased.

"Shut up Kendall," Katie replied as she rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. "Not all girls care about their looks as much as James does." She motioned behind him, where James was standing in the foyer, looking at his reflection.

"Yeah, you got me there." Kendall admitted.

"You all look _great_!" WayneWayne added with a grin.

"So what you're saying is that we usually just look ok?" Camille asked as she crossed her arms over her chest and regarded her boyfriend, whose eyes widened and he looked around, stammering to try and find an answer.

"What?" he stammered. "No, well, I, what I mean was-"

"You might as well quiet while you're behind." Logan remarked as he slapped a hand over WayneWayne's mouth, cutting him off. "Because there's no way that you can get out of this one.

"I was just kidding anyway," Camille walked forward and moved Logan's hand off of WayneWayne's mouth and kissed her boyfriend. "You look great as well. You all do."

"Thanks," James finally tore himself away from the mirror and joined everyone in the living room. "But I'd look better without this cast." Jo smiled and kissed his fingertips and James grinned as he pulled her into his side. "Where is everybody?"

"Um, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney are in the kitchen polishing their shoes," Stephanie rattled off. "Riley and Rhuben are finishing putting on their makeup, Brittany and Julius left earlier, in different cars of course, to go down to the church to make sure that everything is set up there, and Kelly, Gustavo, Ronan, and Mrs. Knight are around getting dressed as well."

"I'm surprised they aren't annoyed of all of the noise out there." Jo commented as she looked out the back windows to see workers moving large tables and chairs across the backyard. "It's funny, because the Jacksons weren't adopted by their actual family, I didn't think that they had a lot of family to begin with."

"It's not that no one from their family _wanted_ to adopt them," Logan spoke up as he put his hands into his pockets. "It's that they weren't able to, what with having too many kids of their own and other things like that." He scratched the back of his neck. "They didn't really go into a lot of detail, but that's all I know for sure."

"Why are all of you guys standing around?" Riley asked as she and Rhuben walked into the living room, wearing light pink dresses and high-heels to match. The only thing that was different about them was that they had their hair blown out and it went straight down, going a little past their shoulders. Their makeup was light and subtle, except for the red and black and purple and black eye shadow that they were wearing. "Isn't everyone ready to go?"

"I think, along with the adults, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney is still getting dressed." Stephanie commented and pulled out her digital camera and took a quick picture of the two girls. "Plus, we can't find Carlos."

"Which means that he's getting in trouble somewhere." Rhuben remarked as she scratched the side of her neck. "What?" she asked when she noticed that all eyes were on her and Riley. "What're you staring for?"

"Nothing," Logan shook his head and beamed. "You just look really beautiful."

"Oh." Rhuben looked startled for a second and then blushed as she looked at her feet. "Thank you."

"Eh," WayneWayne shrugged a little. "Pink's not really your color." He remarked to Riley who raised an eyebrow. "But you do look great, really hot." He winced as Camille elbowed him in the side. "Wow, I really can't talk today."

"Just stop for a while and it should fix itself," Riley remarked and then silently counted as she looked around. "Where's Carlos?"

"Probably getting in some sort of trouble." Kendall remarked shortly.

"I'm right here," Carlos walked into the room with something white draped over his arm. His smile widened when he saw Stephanie and he walked over to her. "You look amazing!" he breathed and then kissed her. "Just think," he lowered his voice. "If it was you and me that were getting married. Then we could make love without me feeling the slightest bit guilty."

Stephanie gave him a hurt look. "You feel guilty about it?" she spoke quietly as well. "I mean, I know we've done it three times, but-"

"Only because I know that my mom will probably blow a gasket since she wanted me to wait for my wedding night," Carlos smoothed her hair. "But you're so beautiful I can't help it." He cleared his throat as he turned back around. "Look what I found in the hall closet!" He held out his arm.

"That's Brittany's wedding dress!" Riley stated as she gently took it from him. "We have to bring it to the church soon." She looked over it and her eyes widened and her mouth opened and closed, causing her to look like a drowning fish. "I, he, you-"

"Words Landy, use your words." Logan coaxed her.

"You put a _tear_ in it!" Riley stated through gritted teeth as she held up the dress and stuck her finger through a hole, glaring at Carlos, who suddenly looked scared. "How could you have put a _tear_ in it?"

"It must have been when I was trying to get it off the hanger." Carlos replied slowly as he thought about it.

"What did I tell you about taking things that aren't yours?" Stephanie asked as she placed her hands on her hips.

"It just looked so pretty," Carlos mumbled a dug the tip of his shoe into the floor. "I couldn't help myself."

"Ok, don't panic." Rhuben took the dress from her sister and looked it over. "It doesn't look that bad, and I'm sure that Noah can fix it. Let's go ask him." She led everyone into the spacious kitchen and Sydney looked up and smiled when he saw them. "Syd, you got some shoe polish on your cheeks.

"Thanks." Sydney got up from his seat and went over to the sink to wash up.

"You guys are dressed already?" Noah flicked his head to the side and looked at his watch. "We still have two hours and-"Noah's mouth dropped open when he got a good look at Katie. Katie blushed and looked down at her dress self consciously.

"What do you think?" she asked and then raised her eyebrows when Noah continued to stare. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

"I think his brain is fried," Patrick commented as he got up from his own chair. "Trust me; it's not a great feeling." He commented and walked over to his brother. "No, hello!" He knocked on his brother's forehead and then grabbed him by the front of his shirt and shook him back and forth. "HELLO!"

"I think that explains half of the things that Patrick says that doesn't make any sense." Stephanie laughed as she watched the two.

"Welcome to my world." Riley commented.

"What?" Noah blinked and then his whole face and neck flushed red when he noticed everyone staring at him. "You look great, really." He replied and blushed harder, his face resembling a tomato, when his voice cracked.

"Thanks." Katie giggled at his embarrassment.

"Why are you guys holding onto Brittany's wedding dress?" Sydney asked innocently as he turned from the sink, drying his hands. "I thought that you were supposed to be taking it down to the church."

"We were _going_ to, but that was before we saw what Carlos did to it." Rhuben replied and shoved it into Carlos's chest. "Show them what you did." Carlos held the dress out and showed them the whole. "Do you think that you can fix it, No?" she asked as Noah got up from his chair and examined it.

"YOU TORE HER DRESS?" Patrick practically shouted.

James took a short breath and placed a hand on Patrick's shoulder. "Yeah, you know, that would have been a really good thing to _whisper_!" He hissed into Patrick's face and then messed up Patrick's hair. Patrick let out a shriek and started to move his spikes back up into place.

"Alright," Noah sighed and took a step back. "It doesn't look too bad; I think I can fix it." He placed a hand on his chin. "Just put it down while I go get my sewing kit."

"Ok." Carlos shrugged and tossed it towards the table.

"NOT ON THE SHOE POLISH!" Riley and Rhuben screamed in unison.

Carlos jumped and quickly took the dress up off of the table. The girls gasped loudly when they saw the large black stain on the front of the dress. Sydney's eyes were about three times as large and Patrick and Noah just stared, their mouths dropped open. Kendall slapped himself on the forehead.

"I _really_ should have seen that coming." Logan commented as he shook his head.

"Hey, what's all that screaming about?" Ronan's voice floated from the hallway and they could hear rapid footsteps coming towards the kitchen.

"Crap, it's Ronan!" Riley started to pace frantically as she thought. "He's going to do his block on us!"

"Give it here!" Patrick grabbed the wedding dress and shoved it into the refrigerator and turned around and leaned on it, smiling innocently as Gustavo, Ronan, Kelly, and Kacy entered the kitchen. "Hey dad!" he said loudly.

"What's going on?" Kacy asked as she looked around. "What was all the screaming about?"

"Nothing." Everyone responded in unison and continued to smile at the four adults.

"Stop doing that," Gustavo commanded. "It's getting really creepy.

"We heard screaming." Kelly insisted and raised her eyebrows when no one answered her. "There's really nothing going on?"

"Screaming?" Sydney murmured and then his eyes widened when all attention was brought onto him. His right eye twitched as he laughed nervously. "Oh _that_ screaming! It must have come from outside, one of the workers probably dropped something onto his foot." He started laughing even harder as he backed out of the kitchen and into the backyard, closing the glass door behind him.

"What's up with that?" Ronan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Probably nervous," WayneWayne piped up. "You know, having to be the ring bearer and everything, it's a _very_ important job in the wedding."

"Right," Ronan nodded, looking like he didn't but it. "Well it's time to go down to the church," he looked at his watch. "We want to get there before all of the paparazzi come and-"

"You go ahead!" Logan jumped in. "We still have some things that we need to get done, so we're just going to go meet you down there." He started to push them out of the room. "Trust me; nothing is wrong, just having a few problems finding shoes and everything. You know how girls are…" his voice trailed off as he disappeared around the corner.

"Whew!" Patrick let out a breath of air and pulled the wedding dress back out of the refrigerator, but now there was a giant orange stain on it as well as the shoe polish. "What the hell is that?" he spat. The kitchen door opened and closed and Sydney entered the house again.

"Is he gone?" he asked and then smiled when he got nods in reply. "Good, I hate lying and-"he let out a scream when he saw the dress. "What the hell is that?" he asked, repeating Patrick's question.

"We're dead." Riley moaned.

"No we're not," Kendall took the dress from Patrick. "I've seen my mom clean out worse stains than this, I think we can clean it," he looked it over and nodded. "Yeah, we can clean it, but we're going to have to act fast." He turned and started to leave the room, but stopped and his eyes widened when he heard a loud tearing sound. Kendall turned around and gaped when he saw part of the dress on the floor, under Patrick's foot.

James and Carlos grabbed onto their hair and let out high-pitched screams at the same time.

"What happened?" Logan raced back into the kitchen. "I just got them to leave and I heard you guys screaming."

"What else could go wrong?" Jo asked, finally speaking up, staring at the dress. She, Camille, Stephanie, and Katie had been watching in stunned silence as everything went downhill. "I don't know why I'm asking myself this? With everything that these guys have done, I wouldn't be surprised if the fucking world explodes!"

"Would you stop fucking cursing around my brothers?" Riley snapped at her.

"_You _fucking stop cursing!" Jo replied.

"Hold it!" Katie shouted, getting everyone to fall silent. "We're all a little on edge here, but we all need to calm down." She looked over at the dress and forced a smile. "Think of it this way, someday in the future, we're all going to laugh about this." She turned to the Jacksons. "You might now, 'because I'm sure that Julius will disown you, but we're all going to laugh at this."

"Katie's right," Carlos agreed. "You're all going to be disowned.

"Carlos!" Kendall, Logan, James, WayneWayne, Jo, Camille, Stephanie, and Katie shouted in unison.

"Ok, put this in the washing machine for twenty minutes," Kendall gave Patrick the dress and he nodded and disappeared from sight. "Ok, now we have to think of what to do if this doesn't work."

"You mean you don't have a plan?" James asked as he turned to his 'leader'. "But you always have a plan."

"I can't think of _everything_," Kendall defended himself and then turned to Riley. "Can't you think of anything?"

"It wouldn't matter," she remarked. "Usually my plans either end of backfiring in my face, or they just end up getting us in trouble." She held up a finger. "Only once in my career of making plans has it ever actually worked.

"She's right about that." Rhuben commented. "Ok," she let out a cleansing breath. "We all have to calm down and think rationally." She stated as calmly as possible, being the peace maker of the Jacksons. "I know what kind of dress that was and where she got it, so Logan and I will go and see if there is another dress that we can get."

"Not that I don't like spending time with you alone, because I do," Logan stated quickly, looking confused. "But why is it that _I'm_ the one that's going with you?"

"Because you can use big words to talk the cashier into giving me another dress if I need it." Rhuben replied and then shot a glare at Carlos. "And I'm sure that somewhere in the time it takes for me to get there, I'm going to really lose my temper and I know that I can bounce it off of you because you won't take offense from it."

"Thanks." Logan replied, slightly sarcastic as he followed Rhuben out of the kitchen and out the house.

"So how long do we have to wait?" WayneWayne asked, starting to pace as well.

"Twenty minutes," Kendall replied and brought his hand to his mouth, starting to bite on his nails, something he did whenever he was nervous.

"Nails." Katie reminded him and he quickly pulled his hand out of his mouth.

"Thanks."

* * *

Patrick hummed to himself as he sat on top of the washing machine, reading a magazine. He looked up as footsteps thundered down the stairs and Carlos, Riley, Camille, and Kendall headed into the basement.

"Patrick, I told you to put the dress in the washing machine for twenty minutes." Kendall reminded the younger teenage boy.

"And I did," Patrick replied with a nod. "It's in the dryer now."

"Sparky, please tell me you _just_ put that in there." Riley pleaded and then let out another groan when the dryer suddenly stopped. Camille and Carlos darted forward and pulled open the dryer, slowly pulling out the dress.

It was now shrunk and it was gray.

Patrick stared at it for a second and tried to say something, but all that came out of his mouth was a high-pitched screech.

"Let's look on the bright side," Carlos stated nervously, giving a lopsided grin. "Maybe gray is a better color for Brittany.

"CARLOS!"

* * *

After about an hour of searching, Rhuben and Logan were able to find an exact copy of Brittany's dress and headed to the church with it. Rhuben called everyone else along the way and ordered them to get rid of the real dress and Patrick did so, by cutting it up completely and stuffing it into the bottom of the trash can and then everyone else headed to the church. Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney disappeared into their designated rooms to wait for the processional as BTR, Jo ,Camille, Stephanie, Katie, and WayneWayne slid into their seats in the audience, avoiding Ronan, Kacy, Kelly, and Gustavo the best that they could. (But that wasn't before everyone promised that as long as they weren't caught they would NEVER bring up what happened to the dress for the rest of their lives.)

Before they knew it, the wedding started.

Julius gave a nervous smile as he and his groomsmen, his best friends Matt and Mike, and Patrick and Noah entered the church and over to their places at the altar. He smiled warmly as Brittany's bridesmaids, her best friends Amanda and Kelsey, and Riley and Rhuben walked down the aisle, holding onto bouquets of flowers and over to their places on the other side of the altar. Then Sydney and Brittany's little cousin Lilly, the ring bearer and the flower girl walked down the aisle.

Then the wedding march music started and everyone stood up and turned towards the back of the church as Brittany slowly glided down the aisle.

Julius smiled so big he felt that his cheeks were going to explode. His heart started beating faster and his hands became sweaty. Mr. McNabb smiled at his daughter, and she smiled back. As they came up the aisle, Julius' nervousness increased, but he knew that he could do this.

When Brittany got to the altar, Julius smiled at her, and as she smiled back nervously. He took her hand gently and gave it a squeeze to reassure her. She looked so beautiful. She was beautiful every day, but exceptionally so on that day.

As the priest started the ceremony, Julius trembled with love and fear as he looked into Brittany's eyes. Her smile was so beautiful, and it was as if we were kids again.

"Who gives this bride away to be married?" The priest asked.

"Her mother and I do." Mr. McNabb replied with a big smile, wiping at the tears in his eyes.

"I do too!" Sydney spoke up and then was shushed harshly by his brothers and sisters as the audience chuckled. Then the priest started them on their vows.

"I, Julius Rhyder Jackson, take you, Brittany, to be my lawfully wedded wife." Julius stated quietly, but loud enough for it to be picked up by the microphones. "To have and to hold, for better or worse, for rich or for poor, in sickness and in health, till death do us part." He smiled as he slid her ring onto her finger.

Then it was her turn. "I, Brittany Maria McNabb, take you, Julius, to be my lawfully wedded husband. To have and to hold, for better or worse, for rich or for poor, in sickness and in health, till death do us part." She slid his ring onto his finger.

"By the power invested in me and by the law of Sydney, New South Wales Australia, I pronounce you husband and wife." The priest then said, "You may now kiss the bride."

Julius smiled as he turned to Brittany and lifted her veil and planted his lips on hers to the cheers of their family and friends.

"I now introduce for the very first time, Mr. and Mrs. Jackson as husband and wife." The priest smiled and cleared his throat. "At this time, I believe that some of your family has a presentation for you."

"Yes, we do." Sydney nodded and he, Patrick, Noah, Riley, and Rhuben headed over to the five microphones that were set up in the side of the room. "This sing is for Brittany," Sydney said into his microphone. "Our new sister and a great addition to our family."

Noah smiled at the music started and then grabbed his microphone. "It's a beautiful night; we're looking for something dumb to do. Hey baby, I think I wanna marry you." He sang and smiled over at Rhuben.

"Is it the look in your eyes, or is it this dancing juice?" Rhuben sang as she lightly swayed to the song. "Who cares baby, I think I wanna marry you."

Now it was Riley's turn to sing. She grabbed her microphone and smiled over at Julius and Brittany. "Well I know this little chapel on the boulevard we can go, no one will know,"

"Come on girl." Patrick sang his part with a grin.

"Who cares if we're trashed got a pocket full of cash we can blow, shots of patron," Riley sang and turned to Patrick again.

"And it's on girl."

"Don't say no, no, no, no-no; Just say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah; and we'll go, go, go, go-go. If you're ready, like I'm ready." Sydney beamed as he clapped a beat with his hands, getting into the beat of the song.

"Cause it's a beautiful night, we're looking for something dumb to do." Rhuben and Noah sang the first part of the chorus. "Hey baby, I think I wanna marry you."

"Is it the look in your eyes, or is it this dancing juice?" Riley, Rhuben, and Sydney came in next. "Who cares baby, I think I wanna marry you."

"I'll go get a ring let the choir bells sing like oooh," Rhuben took up the verse. "So whatcha wanna do?"

"Let's just run girl." Noah sang back.

"If we wake up and you wanna break up that's cool. No, I won't blame you; it was fun girl." Rhuben and Noah sang and then turned to Sydney again.

"Don't say no, no, no, no-no; Just say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah;" Sydney clapped his hands over his head, to get the audience to join with the beat of the song, and they did so. "And we'll go, go, go, go-go.  
If you're ready, like I'm ready."

"Cause it's a beautiful night, we're looking for something dumb to do. Hey baby, I think I wanna marry you. Is it the look in your eyes, or is it this dancing juice? Who cares baby, I think I wanna marry you." They all sang again.

"Just say I do," Riley and Rhuben sang.

"Tell me right now baby," Patrick came in.

"Tell me right now baby, baby." Noah sang after him.

"Just say I do,"

"Tell me right now baby,"

"Tell me right now baby, baby."

"Cause it's a beautiful night, we're looking for something dumb to do. Hey baby, I think I wanna marry you. Is it the look in your eyes, or is it this dancing juice? Who cares baby, I think I wanna marry you."

* * *

"That was one of the sweetest weddings I've ever been to in my life." Kacy stated with a smile as she and Ronan moved across the dance floor with all of the other adults. An older song was playing that none of the younger people recognized. "You guys really know how to throw a party."

"Why do you think people in Australia are so happy?" Ronan laughed in reply as he gently took her hand and twirled her out before pulling her back into his chest. "We love to have parties, for any occasion." Kacy laughed as Ronan kissed her cheek and continued dancing.

Across the dance floor, Big Time Rush were sitting at one of the tables, eating dinner as they watched numerous friends and family of the Jacksons walk by.

"They really _do_ have a lot of family." Jo remarked as her eyes widened, she then smiled peacefully. "I'm happy for them, now they won't feel as lonely."

"I was thinking the same thing." Stephanie agreed as she continued to wave her video camera around the reception.

"Hey guys!" Sydney grinned as he hurried over to the table, a boy and a girl behind him. "I want you to meet my cousins on my mom's side. This is my adoptive cousin Aaron," he pointed to the blonde boy that was standing by his side and he waved shyly. "Uncle Christian adopted him a couple of years ago. He's blind, but a really cool friend to have, he doesn't let it get in the way at all." He then turned to the girl behind him. "And this is Crystal; I call her Crystie-Chan." He lightly pushed her forward. "Isn't she pretty?"

"Has anyone ever told you that you look like Riley and Rhuben?" Carlos asked and let out a cry of pain when Kendall, Logan, and WayneWayne kicked him in the leg from three sides.

"Yeah," Crystal laughed as she moved her black hair out of her blue eyes. "It makes sense, because our mom's were twins."

"Wow, twins really do run in your family." Camille remarked, her eyes wide.

"Beauty does too, apparently." James commented and grinned over towards Crystal.

"Here James," Jo quickly cut off a chunk of James' steak and held up the meat on her fork. "You look hungry!" She shoved the piece into James' mouth, effectively choking him, as everyone else laughed. Crystal's eyes widened as she watched, obviously not used to seeing Jo get jealous over James' constant flirting.

"Oh! I love this song!" Sydney cried as _I Gotta Feeling_ by the Black Eyed Peas came over the speakers. "Crystie-Chan, dance with me!" He grabbed onto his cousin's hand, probably hyper off of cake, and dragged her off onto the dance floor.

"Hey," Patrick waved as he, Noah, Riley, and Rhuben walked over to them, pushing their way across the dance floor. "I see you guys have met Crystie-Chan and Aaron." He smiled, shouting slightly over the music.

"Yeah, we've met a lot of your family here today." Katie added with a nod. "So many cousins and friends…and Ronan's family came as well." She added.

"Yeah, we were hoping that could have been avoided." Rhuben commented as she winced, laughing a little. In the middle of the ceremony, Ronan and his brothers Aaron and Ely had gotten into a loud argument (over something ridiculously stupid) and it wasn't until Gustavo shouted at them that they had finally shut up. "But they can be like us sometimes, we can't help but argue."

"You guys never argue," Kendall pointed out.

"We haven't gotten mad enough." Noah shrugged and then turned to Katie with a gleam in his eyes. "Want to dance?" he held his hand out to her. Katie smiled and jumped to her feet. She smoothed out her dress a little and then rounded the table, taking Noah's hand as they hurried onto the dance floor. "I meant what I said earlier," he said to her as they started dancing. "You really do look great, beautiful even." Katie smile and kissed him on the cheek and continued dancing.

With that, Camille and WayneWayne, James and Jo, and Carlos and Stephanie hurried onto the dance floor as the song switched from _I Gotta Feeling _to _My First Kiss_ by 3oh3 ft. Ke$ha.

Kendall cleared his throat and got up from the table and rounded it, keeping his eyes on Riley. "Do you want to dance?" he asked, leaning over towards Riley's ear so she could hear him. She looked at him warily and he laughed. "We're friends right? And what friends can't dance with each other?"

"Fine," Riley smirked and flicked him on the nose. "But don't be embarrassed when I out dance you." She hesitated and looked over at Patrick, who was faking a look of offence.

"Oh sure, leave me all alone." He stated and then smiled. "I'm fine, go" he lightly pushed her into Kendall's chest. "Have fun; don't let me get in the way."

Riley took a step back, unconsciously breathing in Kendall's familiar scent of Old Spice and soap and let out a short sigh, looking at her feet. She blinked when she saw Kendall's hand suddenly in her face, the small leather bracelet bobbing on his wrist and looked up at him. He smiled back at her, something flashing through his eyes as his lips curled into a smirk.

"Unless you're scared." He taunted lightly.

_Kendall laughed at his friends as he shook his head. Logan was almost as happy as he was whenever he scored a goal on the ice rink. But in his own opinion nothing could ever beat hockey. (Not that that's surprising.) Kendall went back to drinking his punch and almost choked when a hand was shoved in his face. "Hockey-Head?"_

_"What?" Kendall coughed as he looked up at Riley, who looked amused._

_"I'm asking you to dance," she replied and rolled her eyes. "I mean, I've already danced with James, Carlos, and Logan, now I need to see how well you do."_

_"Uh, ok, sure." Kendall put his cup down before taking Riley's hand and following her onto the dance floor._

"Never" she replied with a half smile and took his hand, following him onto the dance floor with their friends.

The reception continued to rage on for another two hours or so, and then the guests started to leave as Julius and Brittany packed up the limo to go on their honeymoon to the Bahamas. "I still don't see why you can't just stay _here_ for our honeymoon." Sydney whined as Ronan loaded the back of the limo with suitcases.

"Trust me; you don't want to be woken up at odd hours of the night." Noah replied with a sly smile as Brittany giggled nervously and Julius glared at his brother, lightly cuffing him on the back of the head.

"Hey, he's telling the truth." Patrick grinned, not letting up on the jokes. "But you better be sure that you have protect-"

"Knock it off!" Julius stated, although he was grinning. He looked at his watch and then his smile faded a little. "You guys better behave yourselves." He stated and then looked over at Patrick and Noah. "Even though they're older than you, while I'm gone, you have to take care of Riles and Rhubes, keep an eye on em', yeah?"

"Yeah." Patrick and Noah replied and gave him a hug.

Julius then turned and started to say something to Riley and Rhuben but stopped and smiled sadly at them. When Riley asked when he was staring, Julius just shook his head. "I just remember when you guys were little and were so carefree, before everything was messed up. You may not be little anymore, but you're still my baby sisters and I love you."

"We love you too," Rhuben replied and gave her big brother a hug. "But if there's anything that you left-"

"You can have it." Julius interrupted.

"Sweet," Riley smiled and then wrapped her arms around her brother's neck and gave him a hug as well. "See you later, JJ." They then gave Brittany a hug as well.

Sydney, at this point, was fully blown crying and gave both Brittany and Julius bone-crushing hugs. But when as he hugged Julius, he threw his arms around his brother's necks and whimpered, "I don't want you to go."

"I have to." Julius laughed and tried to pry his brother from his neck. After a few seconds, Ronan had to pull Sydney away. "Thanks, Dad." Julius gave Ronan a hug as well.

"Call us as soon as you get to the hotel." Ronan reminded his son and then kissed his daughter-in-law on the head.

"We will." Brittany smiled and waved and the two got into the limo and drove off to the airport.

A couple of hours later, after they had gotten back home from the wedding, Riley and Rhuben went to the beach and had been sitting down on the sand, looking out at the waves for about ten minutes before they heard a voice behind them.

"I thought I'd find you out here." Logan remarked as he walked up behind them, unfolding a blanket as he went. "It's getting kid of cold out here." He unfolded it all the way and sat down in between them and put the blanket around all of their shoulders. "What are you doing?"

"Just thinking." Riley replied after a second, she was smiling peacefully.

"By the way," Rhuben turned to her boyfriend and best friend. "Thanks for talking to Julius."

"How'd you know it was me?" Logan asked, looking interested, but not denying it.

"You're our best friend Logie-Bear, we can tell when you're up to something," Riley replied with a shake of her head. "Besides, you can hardly keep a secret; you looked like you were going to burst." Logan laughed and pulled the two girls closer to his side.

"Yeah, well, you know that I would do anything to make you guys happy." He said.

"Ace," Rhuben replied with a slight nod, turning back to the ocean as they watched the sunset. "We'd do the same for you."

Logan smiled.

* * *

**A/N: Whew! It took all day, but I finally got it done. The song is 'Marry You' by Bruno Mars and it's the only song by Bruno Mars that I actually like. The parts where everyone are freaking out because Carlos ruined Brittany's wedding dress I got from an episode of That 70's Show, which I absolutely love! There, I tried (try being the keyword) to show a little bit of everyone, even if it was a couple of lines so I hope you liked that. I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter; the next one will be up soon and it will be an even funnier one.**

**Cheers,**

**-Riley**


	26. Big Time Stranded

**Chapter Twenty-Six - Big Time Stranded**

* * *

"Hey Bells, could you help me with this?" Logan asked his girlfriend as he walked over to the back of the tour bus, balancing himself on his way, and waved a book in her face, from where she was lying on her back on the couch.

"What is it?" Rhuben questioned as she moved her eyes away from her phone to look at her boyfriend. Logan handed her a book and she read the cover before snorting and handing it back to him. "Logie, I'm pretty sure that you've read _War and Peace_ for fun when we were 8." She stated and went back to her phone.

"Well, I need help with a paper and-"Logan stopped and looked down at his girlfriend, raising his eyebrows. "Who are you texting?"

"Noah," Rhuben replied and put her phone down, resting it on her chest.

Logan's eyebrows furrowed together. "But he's just a floor above us," he pointed up with his thumb as he said so. "So why did you need to-"

"Here's your soda, Rhu-Rhu." Noah stated as he suddenly walked into the small area at the back of the bus, holding out a soda can. Rhuben smiled as she took it. "Next time, could you get it yourself?" He pouted a little. "I was _just_ beating Pat at Super Smash Bros. Brawl," his eyes shifted back and forth. "_Without_ cheating this time."

"Sorry," Rhuben gave a small shrug. "I'm just too lazy to move." Noah stuck his tongue out at his sister playfully before turning and leaving the small space. Rhuben smiled and shook her head as she sat up and popped open the tab on her soda can. "Any particular reason why you're shirtless?" she questioned Logan before taking a sip of her soda and setting it down on the floor.

"Because I'm trying to seduce you," Logan replied with a straight face before flashing a charming smile and flexing his muscles.

"No seriously," Rhuben replied and Logan deflated a little, causing her to laugh. "But you _did_ turn me on a little," she added to feed his ego.

"It's really hot outside and apparently the air conditioning isn't working." Logan replied with a slight shrug. He then smiled and sat down on the couch next to her. "Yeah, I didn't need your help with _War_ _and Peace_," he admitted and then smiled as he kissed her cheek. "But I _do_ need your help," he kissed her on the lips this time. "Writing this paper that," he kissed her again. "Miss. Collins assigned," they kissed again. "See its-whoa!" The bus suddenly lurched to the side and it sent Logan to the ground. "Ow!" he cried as he hit the ground face first, the bus suddenly creeping to a stop.

"Oh my head," Rhuben groaned a little as she held the side of her head, a small knot forming where it had hit the window. "Why'd the bus suddenly stop?" she sat up as Logan got off of the ground. She smirked a little. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, except for this rug burn I now have across my chest." Logan replied as he rubbed a red spot in the middle of his chest. "Did you say the bus stopped?"

"Yeah, something's up." Riley commented as she entered the room, rubbing her forehead.

"What's that large mark on your forehead?" Logan asked as he turned to her.

"I could say the same to you, Logie-Bear," Riley replied and then peered closer. "Never mind, that's just a pimple." Rhuben laughed as Logan snorted sarcastically. "I was in my bunk bed when the bus stopped and I was thrown to the floor."

"That must have hurt," Logan commented.

"No, it tickled."

"C'mon, let's go see what happened." Rhuben spoke up and took Logan's hand before the three of them left the bus with their friends.

"Wow, its hot out here." Camille complained as she wiped sweat off of her forehead that had immediately sprung up as soon as they stepped outside the bus. "Even hotter than it was inside, and I thought it was only bad inside since the AC was busted."

"Oh man," Stephanie started to pull at some strands of her hair. "My hair is already starting to frizz."

"You know, I could give you some things that could take care of that and-"James started to say, but was cut off by Gustavo, as the other bus had stopped to figure out why they had stopped.

"WHAT'S GOING ON?" Gustavo stormed over to the bus driver, who had pulled open a compartment at the bottom of the bus and scratched his head as he looked over the machinery there. "WHY DID YOU STOP? DO YOU REALIZE THAT WE HAVE A CONCERT TO GET TO? IF WE MISS THIS, WE'RE GOING TO BE BEHIND SCHEDULE!"

Gustavo continued to yell as he followed the bus driver over to the front of the bus to figure out what had happened. Ronan, Kelly, and Kacy walked over to the kids to make sure that they were ok.

"Looks like we're going to be stuck here for a while," Kelly commented as she looked at her watch. "We're probably going to have to cancel the concert for tomorrow."

"You can't do that!" James cried as he grabbed onto Kelly's shoulders and dug his fingers into them. "We're Big Time Rush, we don't cancel concerts!" He started to shake her. "We don't let our fans down, not like this!"

"James, you might want to let go," Kendall advised his friend as he struggled to pry his fingers out of Kelly's shoulders. "You don't want to break her, she's the only person that can keep Gustavo from killing us whenever we do something wrong."

"Thank you," Kelly gasped as she rubbed her sore shoulders.

"Besides, we haven't decided whether or not we're going to cancel yet," Ronan stated as he held up his hands defensively. "For one thing, we need to figure out what's really wrong with the bus and as soon as we know what's wrong, we can figure out how much time it's going to take for it to get fixed and to get to the next city that we're headed to."

"So we're stuck in the middle of nowhere?" Carlos asked and then his eyes widened. "Cool!" he cried.

"Well, we're not actually stuck in the middle of nowhere," Ronan started to say but then rolled his eyes when he noticed that Carlos wasn't paying any attention to him. "I think he's the only one that I know of that can be so excited to be stranded."

"We're stranded?" Sydney asked, his eyes growing wide with fright.

"No, we're not." Katie said to her friend reassuringly. "I think he was just saying the exact same thing that the rest of us know," he paused. "That Carlos is a moron."

"Well, I wouldn't say that exactly, but its close enough." Ronan stated and then raised an eyebrow, before narrowing his eyes over at Logan and Rhuben. "Any particular reason why you're half-naked?" he questioned Logan.

Logan's eyes widened as he looked down at his bare chest before looking back up at Ronan again. "Well, I-, you-"he started to point around as he tried to stammer an answer. Finally, he just gave a sheepish smile. "I'm just going to go put a shirt on." He laughed nervously as he backed away before quickly heading back into the bus.

"Has anyone ever told you that you can be as bad as Julius?" Rhuben questioned carelessly as she pulled her hair off of her forehead.

"No," Ronan replied and then gave a wry half-smile. "But I'll take that as a compliment." He smiled as Patrick, Noah, and Sydney laughed (although they abruptly stopped when Rhuben turned and shot them a look.)

"So what's going on?" WayneWayne asked as he started to fan his neck. "What are we going to do?"

"There's not much that we can do," the bus driver replied as he walked over, with Gustavo still yelling in his ear, wiping sweat off of his forehead. "The engine has overheated and there's not much that I can do without having a mechanic check it, and I don't know how long it's going to take for it to get fixed, because I don't think that the engine overheating is the only problem."

"So what choices do we have here?" Kacy asked, growing even more concerned as each second passed.

"The way I see it, we're going to have to drive into the nearest town to get some mechanical help," Kelly stated, placing her hands on her hips. "But we don't know how long that's going to take to get there, as well as being able to find someone to help, and getting back here." She frowned and turned to her partner. "IF YOU COULD STOP YELLING LONG ENOUGH, WE'LL BE ABLE TO FIGURE OUT WHAT TO DO TO GET OUT OF HERE!"

Gustavo looked over at her for a second, and then pouted and crossed his arms over his chest and turned away, sticking his nose into the air. "Remind me to try that the next time he's yelling at my son." Kacy commented, half joking. She made a face and scratched the back of her head. "The way I see it, we're going to have to take our bus and try and get some mechanical help," she pulled her phone out of her pocket and held it up. "No bars." She murmured.

"Kacy is right," Ronan agreed. "We're going to have to go and look for help," he paused as he rubbed his chin. "But we can't take everyone with us, because there's not a lot of space." He grimaced and turned to Kacy and Kelly. "One of us is going to have to stay back and make sure that they don't do anything stupid." He looked over his shoulder at Carlos. "Which I'm sure that one of them will." He added under his breath.

"Well how about," Kacy slowly trailed off and looked over at Gustavo as Ronan and Kelly followed her gaze.

"What?" he asked when he noticed them staring at him.

* * *

"Maybe someone will stop." Carlos stated glumly as he continued to stare at the empty road, waiting for a sign that there was another car coming.

"We're in the middle of nowhere; I don't think there's anybody around to _ever_ stop" WayneWayne shot back, his boredom turning into intense annoyance and a short temper. He was lying on his back, an arm over his face.

Everyone was spread out on the grass in a circle, trying to find ways to pass the time and to keep from getting bored. They tried to get Gustavo to do something with them, but he continued to yell at them so they quickly dropped the idea. James, though, was taking the time to work on his tan as Stephanie continuously tried to battle the humidity that was plaguing her hair.

"No one's going to stop?" Carlos asked, his eyes growing wide as his voice cracked, showing that he was starting to panic. "That means that we'll be stuck here forever, and we'll _starve_ to death!"

"Don't be so overly dramatic" Katie stated as she rolled her eyes, watching as he slowly started to panic. "We're not going to starve; we have a lot of things in the refrigerator to eat."

"Oh," Carlos smiled. "Good."

"We'll just die of dehydration." Camille continued Katie's sentence

"Yeah, just calm down Carlos," Patrick stated and smile a little bit. "It's not like we're going to be here forever, I know _exactly_ where we are."

"Oh yeah?" Jo sounded skeptical. "Where are we?"

"We're not in the middle of nowhere…we're in Australia." Patrick replied with a bright smile and then looked confused as the others started to groan and roll their eyes. "What?"

"Pat, I think it's best if you just keep your mouth shut for a while," Riley remarked, fanning herself with a magazine. "It'll keep your brain from frying that much faster." She missed the hurt look that crossed Patrick's face as she lay back on the grass and started to fan herself harder.

"I'M SO BORED!" Gustavo shouted, scaring all of them. "HOW LONG HAVE WE BEEN OUT HERE, IT FEELS LIKE IT'S BEEN _HOURS_?"

"It's only been twenty minutes, Gustavo." Kendall pointed out as he looked at his own watch. "Chill."

"DON'T TELL ME TO CHILL!" Gustavo leapt to his feet and started to pace around. "THANKS TO YOU DOGS, AND YOU-"He turned to the DarkElements, who just stared back at him, waiting for him to say something. Gustavo just shook his head and turned back to Big Time Rush. "DOGS, YOU HAVE CAUSED MY LIFE TO BE MISERABLE EACH AND EVERY TIME I LOOK AT YOU! IT WOULDN'T SURPRISE ME IF YOU WENT AND CAUSED THE BUS TO DIE JUST SO YOU COULD ANNOY ME!"

"Right, because my _first_ thought when I got up this morning was," Kendall put his finger to his chin. "'Hmm, what can I do to annoy Gustavo _today_?'" he tilted his head to the side. "'Oh I know, I'll go and cause the bust to break down so we can't get to our next show and disappoint all of our fans. That will annoy him."

"Smart ass." Katie stated as she ripped up a handful of grass and whipped it at her brother, who laughed in reply.

"It's comment s that like that doesn't surprise me that you're always getting yelled at," WayneWayne added as he rolled over onto his stomach.

"Why do you think that we hate working with him so much?" James asked as he lifted his sunglasses off of his face and sat up, shaking his head back and forth until his hair fell back into place. "I mean, with all of the yelling and the punishments-"

"Ok, Gustavo isn't _that _bad." Logan tried to defend their music producer that looked like he was going to blow at any second.

"Oh, I'm not talking about Gustavo, I'm talking about Kendall." James stated and then continued when Kendall whipped his head around to look at his friend, Jo, Camille, and Stephanie laughing at the look on his face. "I mean, it's always you, or Carlos," he added as an afterthought. "That's getting us in trouble. You with your talking back," he extended an arm and pointed at Kendall, then moved his arm to point at Carlos. "And him with his stupid questions and lack of focus." He then put his sunglasses back on. "If it wasn't for Logan and me, we would probably be back in Minnesota right now."

"Don't drag me into this," Logan stated when he noticed the annoyed look on Kendall's face.

"I didn't hear you complaining about my 'talking back'" he used air-quotes around the words. "When it was times where Gustavo was berating you."

"That's because I'm smart enough to take it."

"Are you calling me dumb?"

"No," James paused and grinned wickedly. "I'm just saying that sometimes you can be as slow as Carlos."

"Hey!" Carlos and Kendall shouted at the same time, Kendall offended because he was being lumped together with Carlos and Carlos because he hated being called stupid.

"Oh would you guys just stop it," Jo moaned as she gathered her hair into a ponytail, moving it off of her neck. "It's bad enough that we're stuck out here, but your arguing isn't going to help things much." She smiled when there was silence for a few moments. But she was bored too, and wanted something to do to occupy her time. "So," she stated after a second. "Who do we eat first?"

"That depends," Noah replied as he turned to face her. "Are we stuck out here or on a deserted island?"

"Like that makes everything better." Patrick mumbled.

"Deserted island," Jo replied, letting out a sigh. "If we were stuck on a desert island with no food or water, who would we eat first?

"I BETTER NOT BE ON THAT DESERTED ISLAND!"

"Gustavo, you would probably have been the one that deserted us," Rhuben snapped as she turned to the music producer. "Knowing you, you got annoyed with how we ruin everything and wanted to think of a place to put us without having to ever see us again."

"Now there's an idea…"

"Haha." Logan laughed hollowly. "Anyway, I wouldn't eat anyone. I'd rather starve." He started to pick at the grass by his feet.

"Me, too." Riley agreed. "I'd just as likely drown myself before I did.

"But if you _had_ to?" Camille insisted. "Oh come on, it's just a game, play for the sake of the game."

"What's so funny about being a carnivore?" Patrick questioned. Sydney grimaced and opened his mouth to correct him, but just shook his head, knowing that there was no point in it.

Riley, though, still wasn't swayed. "I've said so once, and I'll say it again, I'd rather starve than go cannibal."

"I'd probably eat Stephanie," James suddenly stated. Carlos let out a short scream and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend as Stephanie looked up; a comb in her hand and her hair about three times bigger than it was before. "What?"

"Why me?" she questioned, narrowing her eyes at him.

James shrugged carelessly. "I'm starving, remember?"

"Yeah, but why did you choose Steph?" Katie questioned. "I mean, you might as well eat Kendall, or WayneWayne, or yourself."

"Oh really?" James snorted. "I'm _really_ going to eat myself_." _

"Well no one can eat me," Riley smiled smugly. "I said I'd rather drown myself, and I'd be dead before you can eat me."

"We'll pull you out." Noah replied in a tone that showed that she had forgotten about something.

"But I'll be dead." Riley pointed out.

Noah just smiled. "Well, we weren't planning on eating you alive, you know." He paused as he looked at the sky in thought and then smiled back down at his sister. "Actually, you might be quite nice, that way. Ready salted, you know."

"You're so gross." Camille stated with a laugh.

"Well Jo said to think realistically, blame her."

There was another pause of silence, and the minutes ticked by with nothing to do. But as the temperature continued to rise, everyone started to let their temper get the best of them. They were all snapping and shouting at each other for the littlest things and couldn't say two words without someone jumping down someone else's throat. Soon two hours had gone by and no one could look at each other without feeling disgusted. (Gustavo was the only one that was happy, as he could finally have some peace and quiet.)

"Does anyone want to sing or something?" Kendall asked.

"All we ever _do_ is sing." Carlos complained. "This is one of our few days off and I'm not wasting it."

"_Excuse me_." Kendall muttered, rolling his eyes. Suddenly he realized that his throat was very dry. "M, I'm thirsty." He complained.

"So are the rest of us," Jo agreed and then turned and pointed at Gustavo. "We wouldn't be if Gustavo wasn't hogging all of the water."

"Hey, I bigger and more important than all of you," Gustavo stated when he realized that all eyes were on him. "I'm the one that needs more water." To throw it in their faces, he picked up a plastic water bottle and drained it before crushing it in his hand. He sighed loudly and let out a loud burp. "All gone." He patted his stomach.

"Yo got that right," WayneWayne commented as he picked up the plastic bottle. "That was actually the last bottle, seeing as we haven't gone shopping in a while."

"_You drank the last of the water_?" Katie shrieked at the top of her lungs.

"We're going to die of thirst!" Patrick cried dramatically and fell to the ground, clutching his throat. "I can already feel death closing in on me!"

"Katie, calm down," Rhuben reassured her friend. "There's no need to-"

"Panic?" Katie interrupted. "I that what you were about to say? There's no need to panic?" She started to pace back and forth and as she talked, her voice continued to get louder and louder. "Oh right, we're just stuck here in the middle of the outback, not exactly sure where we are, with no food or water. Yeah, we're not supposed to panic when Gustavo," she turned and pointed to the music producer. "Is just sitting there like everything is ok."

"What are you trying to say Katie?" Stephanie questioned, tilting her head to the side.

"I say we eat Gustavo." She replied with a menacing glare.

"Kendall, your sister is crazy." Gustavo commented, watching her with his mouth wide open.

"That's true," Kendall commented, but then also turned to his music producer with a glare. "But I agree with her," he reached down into the grass and picked up a long pointed stick. "I say that we eat you first."

"What are you doing?" They all turned around to see Ronan starting at them with his arms crossed over his chest and his head tilted to the side. "You all look like you're about to start a mutiny or something." He shook his head and pointed over to the bus. A small truck had pulled up next to it and a man was walking over to the front of the bus. "We found a mechanic that can fix the bus so we'll be out of here soon."

"It's a miracle!" Patrick shouted towards the sky. "We're not going to _starve _to death!"

"We're going to live!" Katie added. "We're saved!"

"Do I even want to know?" Ronan asked as he turned to Gustavo, who was still cowering in fear. "Gustavo?"

"What?" Gustavo uncurled from the ball that he was just in and looked over at Ronan innocently. "No, you don't want to know." He replied glumly, and then reached out towards Kendall. "Give me that!" He wrenched the stick from his hands. "I'm going to need that for protection."

* * *

"What's up Kendall?" Camille asked as he plopped down onto the floor in front of them, staring at the TV, but not looking like he was trying to focus. "You look like something is really bothering you."

"Yeah, there is I guess." Kendall murmured as he rested his cheek on his upraised palm.

"Well what's up?" WayneWayne grabbed the remote and pressed the mute button so he could hear what he had to say. "We're your friends, you can tell us anything." He cleared his throat and then lowered his voice. "I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to," he added, trying to save his masculinity. "'Cause us guys do better without having to express our emotions."

"Nice save," Jo stated as she nodded her head. "Not." She added, rolling her eyes. "What's up, Kendall?"

"Aren't you glad to be back on the road to your next concert?" Stephanie asked, twirling some of her hair around her finger.

Kendall looked over at her and tried not to laugh, seeing that her hair was now a big puff ball around her head. His smile faded as he looked back at the TV. He stayed silent for a while and WayneWayne turned the sound back on and they watched TV while they waited.

"It's not that I'm not happy to be going to our next concert," Kendall finally stated. "It's that in the next city that we arrive in, it's where I'm going to be able to see my dad finally."

"But isn't that a good thing?" Camille raised her eyebrows looking concerned. "For you and Katie? I thought that you both wanted to go see him."

"I thought so too." Kendall admitted. "But right now, I'm not sure if that's a good idea."

* * *

**A/N: I hope that you guys liked this chapter. I wanted to have another humorous one before it gets back to the angsty chapters, so it's sort of a filler, but there are some conversation/briefly mentioned moments that are important to the rest of the story. The next three chapters (the third especially) are going to be the ones that you enjoy the most. I'm sorry that it took so long for me to update this for you guys, but I wanted to finish some of my other stories first. I hope that you guys enjoyed it and I'll update again soon.**

**Cheers,**

**-Riley**


	27. Big Time Mom

**Chapter Twenty-Seven – Big Time Mom**

* * *

"So, you're going to be seeing your dad tomorrow," Riley stated as she planted a hand on her hip, looking at a t-shirt that she was holding up in front of her. "Are you nervous?" She looked away from the shirt and over to Kendall. "Put this on!" she commanded, tossing the shirt towards him.

"Yeah, I guess I'm a little nervous," Kendall replied as he grabbed the shirt out of midair. "But I was going to have to do it eventually." He stated and took off the white t-shirt that he was already wearing and pulled on the black one.

Riley took a step back and looked him up and down, holding a hand to her chin as she frowned. Kendall held his arms out and spun around in a slow circle, waiting for her response. "I think that those pants don't go well with that shirt." She stated after a second of thought. "But I'm not sure."

Unofficially as Riley is the wardrobe stylist for the DarkElements, she is also the wardrobe stylist for Big Time Rush and the two of them were in BTR's dressing room at the venue, getting their clothes ready for that night. Gustavo and Kelly offered her the position for the tour, to try it out as they are thinking of hiring her for the job full time when they get back home. They have seen how she is able to put together the clothes that she and her siblings wear for their photo shoots (working with the wardrobe stylists there) as well as for their music videos and performances. Gustavo, at first, wasn't really happy with the idea, but after a bit of negotiation with Kelly and Ronan, he decided to give her a chance, plus he wanted Big Time Rush to be as big as they could be, so he is also using Rhuben as the guys' choreographer while on tour, Patrick and Noah as their vocal coaches and Sydney would help Gustavo work their set lists.

"Hello?" Kendall waved a hand.

"What?" Riley asked as she turned away from a pair of jeans, slinging a measuring tape around her neck.

"You started the conversation about my dad, I'm just trying to keep it going," Kendall replied as he raised an eyebrow. "Unless you're ignoring me."

_Kendall blinked once. "What the hell?" he questioned. Riley shot him a confused look and he continued. "Why would you want to ruin something for me that could possibly bring our family back together?"_

_"__Ruin__ it for you?" Riley repeated, her eyes flying open._

_"Yeah," Kendall wiped sweat off of his forehead. He was starting to get worked up._

_"If anyone is ruining anything, it's __you__!" Riley spat, looking like she wanted to kill him. "I had asked you about twenty times what has been bothering you, and you kept saying," she rolled her shoulders back, trying to imitate Kendall's stance. She lowered her voice a little. "'It's nothing, Ruby.' 'I'm fine.' 'Don't worry about me.'" She snorted and went back to her normal pitch. "You know that I can't help but worry about other people. But the worst part was that you __lied__ to me, to my face, every time I asked you."_

_"Ok, I admit that was a bad idea," Kendall shot back quickly. "But," he licked his lips and looked away. "I mean, this is the first time that my mom, dad, sister, and I can all be a family again. Something that I've wanted so badly for a long time and you're trying to talk me out of it." He crossed the room and grabbed onto her shoulders. "Why? Why would you do that?"_

Kendall winced for a second, knowing that the conversation that had caused their breakup was running through both of their minds, but then he breathed a sigh of relief as Riley scratched the back of her head and then opened her mouth to speak.

"I'm not ignoring you," she replied as she motioned for Kendall to sit down on the stool as she perched herself on the arm of a couch, crossing one leg over another. "I was just thinking of what to say," she raised and lowered one shoulder. "Just in case you want to yell at me." She explained.

Kendall sucked in a breath, yeah, she was thinking of their argument before.

"What do you think is going to happen?" she asked, obviously calculating every word that came out of her mouth.

"What do I _think_ is going to happen?" Kendall repeated, raising his eyebrows. "I don't know, I never actually thought about it." He rolled his eyes as Riley gave him a pointed look. "And I'm assuming that the only reason you asked that question is so you can think of it realistically?"

"I didn't say anything," Riley held her hands up defensively. "I just asked you a question."

"Mhm" Kendall replied, showing that he didn't believe her. He changed the subject. "So what's wrong with the pants that I'm wearing?" he asked, looking down at the black jeans he was wearing. "I kind of like it."

"Yeah, but it's too much black," Riley replied as she rolled her eyes.

"How could you possibly know that?" Kendall asked as he stood up on the stool again. He shook his head in disbelief. "I don't understand girls."

"And you never will," Riley commented with a smirk. "We're very complex creatures, we PMS, we tease, and we hold grudges like it's no one's business." She gave a sweet smile as Kendall chuckled. "Anyway, you're going to be performing onstage in front of thousands of fans, not for a funeral, you don't need that much black."

"Whatever you say, Ruby." Kendall replied and then immediately closed his eyes, sucking in a breath. "I'm sorry," he licked his lips. "I didn't mean…" he trailed off, not sure what to say. '_It's not like you __can't__ call her that_' Kendall thought to himself as he watched Riley busy herself, moving some clothes on a rack marked with his name. '_I mean, it was a nickname that you gave her because she was calling you Hockey-Head all the time, it's not like a pet-name or anything._' Kendall then snorted to himself. '_Yeah, keep trying to make that lie sound like the truth._'

"Its fine," Riley replied shortly and then grabbed another pair of jeans and a light blue shirt and threw it at him. "Change into these."

"Uh," Kendall looked at them for a second, not sure what to do. "I'm not sure-"

"It's not anything that I haven't seen before," Riley interrupted him. "If that's what you're worried about."

"Are you purposely trying to make me feel uncomfortable?" Kendall asked.

"Only because it's so easy." Riley replied. There was an uncomfortable silence and Riley cleared her throat loudly. "I'll just go look through some of your other stuff then," she muttered under her breath and left Kendall to get changed. "Ok," she muttered to herself as she looked through his rack of clothes. "This is for their first song, this is for their last song," she told herself, making sure that she kept them all in order.

Some movement caught her eye and she looked up just in time to see Kendall pull his shirt up over his head, shaking his head back and forth as he reached for the new on that Riley had given him. She tilted her head to the side, her eyes falling towards his stomach, smiling a little as she watched his stomach muscles move. Subconsciously, as Riley's smile grew a little wider, she went to move a hanger of clothes out of her way, but ended up knocking down the rack.

"Shit!" She cried under her breath, her cheeks immediately turning red as she ducked to the ground and started to gather all the clothes back up.

"Are you ok?" Kendall asked as he quickly got dressed and hurried over to her. "What happened?"

"I, uh," Riley made sure her hair covered her face. "I just knocked over the rack of clothes. Uh," she quickly looked at Kendall out of the corner of her eye and noticed that he was getting ready to help her. "No! I got it." She told him. '_Just get out of here before my head explodes._' She snapped at herself. "You're done, I have everything I need for you, and you can bring in James or Logan or whatever."

"Ok," Kendall shot her an odd look and went back to change back into his street clothes. "Thanks-"

"Uh-huh," Riley took his stage clothes and quickly but them back on the rack, her face still red. "I'll see you later."

"Later." Kendall gave a short wave, although she didn't see it, and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Riley let out a sigh, resting her forehead on the cool back of the metal rack, closing her eyes briefly. She frowned as she walked back over to the couch and flopped down on it, bringing her hands up to her face. '_This is seriously getting old_.' She thought to herself.

"You're not sick are you?" Riley moved her hands away from her face and sat up as Kacy gave her a gentle smile, leaning against the door to the dressing room. "I was looking for your father, have you seen him?"

"Well, it's my dad," Riley replied as she grabbed a pillow and hugged it to her chest. "And we have a concert tonight and tomorrow night, so, yeah, he's got be somewhere around this place freaking out over nothing."

"Well that wouldn't surprise me," Kacy commented with a warm smile. "I mean, especially since he has five kids to look after as well as trying to make sure that something doesn't jeopardize his job." She expected to get a smile in reply, but didn't get that. "What's wrong, Riley?" Kacy moved next to her on the couch, brushing her hair off of her face.

In normal instances, Riley would have instantly moved away from anyone that wanted to get that close, but Kacy had been taking care of the Jacksons as well as Kendall, Katie, and their friends ever since she found out that they were being abused by Robert and it was a welcome change for the Jacksons.

"Um," Riley bit her lower lip and rubbed the back of her neck. "This is going to be a really stupid question, but," Riley looked down at her hands, twisting them in her lap as she felt a wave of embarrassment was over her. "How…how do you know if you're in love?"

Kacy smiled. "Does this have to do with you and Kendal?" she asked and then laughed when Riley decided to nod instead of giving her a verbal answer. "Well," Kacy tucked her legs underneath her as she thought about it. "You can never really tell when you're in love, it just happens." She explained. Riley looked at her, a confused expression swimming through her blue eyes and Kacy chuckled as she continued explaining the foreign concept. "It happens so fast yet at the same time so slowly, the love of yours grows for that special someone.

"Out of nowhere it comes straight out and then you realize it, which is the sad thing because it takes so long for it to hit you, yet you have known that special person for so long maybe even a few seconds by the time you finally realize it, it could be too late." Kacy reached out and brushed Riley's hair out of her face again. "So keep your eyes open...don't blink, for that split second with your eyes closed could change your whole life."

"Thanks Mama Knight," Riley grinned. "That really helped." She moved forward and gave Kacy a hug.

"It's no problem Riley, no problem at all."

* * *

Above the Australian grasslands, the sky was glowed brightly with stars. If you traveled ten minutes in any direction except north from the town, you would get far enough away from the lights of the town, and you would be able to see all the stars of the night sky. And that is exactly what Logan had in mind when he asked Rhuben out there earlier that afternoon.

But it took him a while to figure out what to do for a date, and he had enlisted Mrs. Knight's help.

"_Mama Knight!" he called when he saw her wandering the halls of the venue. He hurried over to her, leaving James and Carlos to whatever they were arguing about (he didn't really have the patience for it.) "Mama Knight, could you help me with something?" he asked her urgently._

"_If it has anything to do with your science project you're on your own," Kacy replied firmly. "You know that I don't do well with science," she paused. "Or math…or history. But mostly science."_

"_That's not what I need your help with actually," Logan replied and blushed a little. "See, um, I want to take Rhuben out on a special date, and I don't have any ideas. But, you're a woman, so you would know what you would like on a date."_

"_Well, I can't actually answer your question," Kacy stated as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Because Rhuben and I like totally different things." She raised her eyebrows. "And I'm sure of that."_

"_Ok, well," Logan licked his lips and then sighed. "I'll be honest with you, Mama Knight; I'm, well, kind of trying to seduce her." He quickly held his hands up as Kacy's eyes flew open with shock. "Not like that," he stated as fast as he could. "I just mean that I want to show her that I can be romantic and not just the nerdy, math guy that she has known since she was 8."_

"_Logan, you're not a nerd." Kacy stated as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "And I think she already likes you the way you are, or else she wouldn't be dating you right now." She peered closer at him and tilted her head to the side. "Or is it that you're afraid that you'll lose her to someone else."_

"_That's it exactly," Logan replied glumly. "I mean, she can have any guy out there, and she chose me," he shook his head. "I don't get why."_

"_Maybe because you're a sweet guy that would do anything to make someone happy," Kacy replied and gave him a small hug. "Ok," she thought for a minute. "Um, you want to make this date unique, not like all of the other ones that you've gone on before, right?"_

"_Yeah, that would be great." Logan nodded encouragingly._

"_Well, why don't you recreate your first date with her?" Kacy suggested. "I mean, you've been going out for a long time, and you haven't been able to spend much time alone together ever since the tour started, so why not try that." She placed her hands on her hips. "What did you do?"_

"_We ate some dinner and went star gazing in the park." Logan replied._

"_Well there you go, you can take her to do that," Kacy replied with a grin and then gave a wink. "But you might want to get her some roses as well."_

"_I will," Logan grinned with excitement and then gave Kacy a big bear hug. "Thank you Mama Knight, thank you so much!"_

They both lay on their backs, an old blanket beneath them out in the country not too far from their school. "Which one is that?" Rhuben asked, pointing to a bright star near the constellation Orion, the only one that Logan could easily pick out. Slightly lower and to the left of the Belt, he knew immediately what star it was.

"That one is Sirius," he said. "That's part of the constellation Canis Major." He tried to draw out the shape of a dog around the star, but he wasn't too successful. "They call it the Dog Star, and it is one of the brightest stars in the sky after the sun." He then went on to point out other Constellations like the Big and Little Dippers, Bootes, and Virgo (the sign that they were both born under).

"I have something really cool to show you," he said. He followed Orion's Belt until he came to a small cluster of stars, tracing it with his finger so Rhuben could follow. "That's the Pleiades, or the Seven Sisters. It's a cluster of hot, young stars." He grinned. "Like me." He added.

Rhuben laughed and curled up into his side, tickling his neck with her breath each time she laughed. He grinned at the feeling and pulled her closer to him.

"Follow Orion's right shoulder up until you come to a really bright star," he said, tracing a line up until that point. "That's not really a star, it's the planet Saturn." Part of him wished they could have come out here at sunset, when he could have pointed out the planet Venus. It would have only been fitting for a romantic night like this.

He quickly, and quietly, nodded off, but seconds later, he was jolted back down to Earth. Rhuben was leaning over him, her hand on his chest. "Wake up, Logie," she said with a smirk, still shaking him. Logan quickly sat up, propping himself up next to her. "So what were you thinking about?" she asked as her hand went from his chest to his knee.

He grinned in reply and moved closer to her. "I was thinking about the most beautiful thing in the universe."

"And what was that?" Rhuben replied with a wry smile, already knowing the answer.

Instead of saying anything, he brought his hand up to her face, gently touching it as he leaned in. But it was slow and sweet at first, just a tentative brush of the lips, but then they both wanted more, so it turned into a slightly sloppy, full-fledged kiss as their desperation got the better of them. He pulled back a little and Rhuben smirked, and moved closer to return his kiss. They continued to kiss until the need for air was too great.

"Thanks for tonight," Rhuben thanked him as she rested her head on his shoulder. "I really needed it, some time to cool off before the concert." She reached out and held his head. "Some time alone."

"No problem," Logan smiled and kissed the side of her head. "Like you said, we haven't had much time alone together for a while and I wanted to make tonight special."

"Why?" Rhuben questioned as she looked at him with confusion.

"Because you deserve it." Logan replied truthfully.

"Logan," Rhuben frowned. "Why was it that tonight of all nights you wanted to take me out? I could have waited, but you seemed so eager to do it tonight, and you went all out, especially with the flowers." She nudged the bouquet of roses that he had given her with her foot. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Logan shrugged in reply and then sighed in defeat when Rhuben stared hard at him. "It's stupid, but sometimes I wonder why you want to be with me. I mean, I'm not as athletic as James or as funny as Carlos, and I know that there are a lot of guys out there that want to be with you."

"Yeah, but they're not _you_." Rhuben replied truthfully. "Logie, you're my best friend and you know me better than my own family does. You want to protect me and to make sure that I'm ok and I haven't dated any other guy that's wanted that for me. And you're not a nerd," she stated forcefully, easily reading his mind. "I like that you're smart, it's one of the things that's made me attracted to you."

"What're the other things?" Logan asked.

Rhuben laughed. "Your smile, your laugh, and your body." She replied truthfully and then lightly hit him on the arm. "But don't sell yourself short, I'm with you and I want to be with you, and no one else. You know that don't you?"

Logan grinned. "I do now."

* * *

"I've been looking all over for you," Kelly stated as she walked into the hotel room that she, Kacy, Jo, Camille, and Stephanie were sharing. "Where have you been all night? The concert is going to start in two hours; shouldn't you be at the venue?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Kacy replied as she raised her eyebrows, giving a small laugh. "What are you doing back here?"

"I forgot my purse," Kelly replied. "Plus, it gives me some time away from the guys, I love them and all, but their antics can really get on your nerves." She then placed her hands on her hips. "Uh-uh, you're not getting me to change the subject, where have you been all night?" she grinned. "With Ronan."

"No," Kacy replied as she rolled her eyes and then grew serious. "No, actually, I've been trying to keep myself busy, helping the kids with some stuff."

"Is it because Kendall and Katie are going to be seeing your ex-husband tomorrow night after the concert?" Kelly asked, immediately concerned for her friend. Kacy nodded. "Well, Kace, you know that this was going to come eventually."

"Yes, but I didn't think that it would come this soon," Kacy replied and then turned and sat down on the couch. "I know that it will be good for them to see him, it would be good for _me _too, that way I don't have to freak out about it anymore, but I'm afraid that things aren't going to go the way they want it to."

"What do you mean?" Kelly prompted.

"I was married to Kevin, remember?" Kacy explained. "And I was the one that had to be there and explain why he couldn't come to this one hockey game, or why he couldn't go to the one play. Disappointment after disappointment I was left to pick up the pieces." She shook her head. "Especially when he left us, I know that Kendall and Katie were really hurting but wouldn't show it because they were trying to protect me. But that's my job, I'm supposed to protect them, and now I can't because they're going to see him tomorrow."

"But it's like you said before, it may be a good thing to let them go see him," Kelly rubbed Kacy's back. "That way if things go badly you can be there for them like you always have been, and if things go well, you can still be there for them and still protect them when you need to."

"I guess you're right." Kacy agreed with a nod, she then sighed heavily and rubbed her face. "I swear, all of this worrying about them is going to drive me crazy."

"But if you don't worry then you wouldn't be their mother," Kelly replied with a laugh. "Actually, you're not just Kendall's and Katie's mother, you're also like James's, Logan's, and Carlos' mother as well." She threw her arms into the air. "Even the Jacksons, you take care of everyone!"

"They don't call me Mama Knight for nothing." Kacy smiled.

* * *

**A/N: Alright you guys, now you get to see Kendall's and Katie's father in the next chapter. I know that you guys are going to like that chapter as much as you liked this one, I wanted to give Mama Knight some love, showing how she wants everyone to be happy, so I thought of putting it in with the Kiley and Lella pairings, so here you go. I guess it's sort of a mother's day chapter, even though mother's day isn't until Sunday. But I hope you liked it anyway.**

**Even though the next chapter has to do with Kendall, Katie, and their dad, it will also show more of James, Carlos, Jo, Camille, Stephanie, WayneWayne, Gustavo, and Kelly (along with the Jacksons and the Natie pairings). So stay tuned guys!**

**-Riley**


	28. Big Time Dad

**Chapter Twenty-Eight – Big Time Dad**

* * *

"Hey Kates…are you ready to go?" Kendall asked, knocking on the wall of the hotel room.

Katie looked up from the cards in her hands and then looked over at Patrick, Noah, and Sydney, who seemed to have suddenly become very interested in their own cards. After having a late afternoon/early night concert in Halls Creek, Western Australia they had all gone and quickly got hotel rooms to relax for a while. But during the concert, everyone was kind of tense, because they knew that Kendall and Katie were going to go see their dad that night and they didn't want to bring it up just in case they, or Kacy, got upset.

Patrick even kept his mouth shut as he was known to say stupid things at tense moments, just because it would be the first thing that popped into his head. But Katie tried to keep herself from thinking about it too much, by getting really into the music at the concert, and challenging the guys to game after game of Poker. The high of winning helped for a while, but now it was time to go.

"Yeah," Katie sighed and threw her cards down onto the ground, reaching over to get her shoes. "Yeah, I'm ready to go, let me just get my shoes on."

"Alright," Kendall shoved his hands into his pockets and leaned against the wall.

"What restaurant are you going to?" Sydney asked innocently as he shuffled the cards nervously in his hands.

"This place called Flemings." Kendall replied, looking down at his shoes. Just last night he had called his father, using the number that he was given to ask where they were going to meet. Mr. Knight wanted to see his kids so bad that he was actually flying out to Australia to see them. He had almost slammed the phone down as soon as he heard his father's voice, but knew for his and Katie's sake that he was going to have to go through with it.

His father sounded the same, happy and relaxed, and that worried Kendall.

Did he really want to see them or was he just feeling a lot of guilt?

Many thoughts like that ran through Kendall's head, causing him to severely doubt what he was doing, but he wanted to get it over with anyway.

"Good restaurant," Patrick commented as he nodded. "It's really fancy, great steak," he looked like he was in thought. "Which is probably a good thing, you get to have great food just in case-"Noah slapped a hand over Patrick's mouth.

"Just in case you say something stupid or very unhelpful," Noah explained as Patrick glared at his twin, who was lying on his stomach on the floor. He looked up at Katie. "We'll be here when you get back."

"Thanks." Katie gave a fleeting smile as she finished tying her shoes and then stood up next to her brother. "See you guys later." Kendall waved and the two left the hotel room and entered the lobby, going down to the hotel.

They bumped into bumped into Riley, Rhuben, and Logan as they were leaving the hotel. They all stopped talking when they saw Kendal land Katie. Kendall narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "What're you up to?" he asked.

"Nothing." The three of them replied in unison.

"Yeah, like I really believe that."

"Seriously," Logan held his hands up defensively. "We're not up to anything."

"Besides," Rhuben placed a hand on her hip, jutting out her hip as well. "There's not much that we can get away with, we're tired from the concert, and Ronan, Gustavo, Kelly, and Mama Knight have been watching us like hawks since the last time you guys managed to come into the hotel covered in tomato sauce." She rubbed her forehead. "Which I _still_ don't want to know how that happened, by the way."

"It's a long story anyway." Kendall replied lamely.

"You guys…" Katie hesitated as he tried to find the words to say. "Aren't going to say good luck or anything?"

"Oh we would," Riley nodded. "But saying it out loud will probably jinx you." She gave a short wave and the three of them walked around Kendall and Katie and disappeared into the elevator that they were just in.

"Ok, that was weird." Kendall commented.

"They're of our friends, of _course_ it was weird." Katie stated as she rolled her eyes. "C'mon." The two started walking again. Kendall stopped as his cell phone rang, letting him know that he got a text. He quickly pulled his phone from his pocket and pulled it up.

**To: Kendall**

**Good Luck, Hockey-Head**

**From: Riley**

Kendall smiled, put his phone back into his pocket, put his arm around his sister, and walked out onto the sidewalk, raising his free hand above his head to hail a cab.

* * *

The cab stopped out front of the restaurant. Kendall and Katie got out and surveyed the entire area before heading inside, in the back of their minds they were impressed with the fanciness of the restaurant, but they knew what they were there for and knew not to get caught up with it. They were there for a reason and it was very important to them.

Kendall looked around as he looked for his father, millions of thoughts running through his head each one faster than the one before. '_What could it be that he wants? He's waited this long to contact us when he could have done it before. He completely ignored them for years. So why return now?_'

He still didn't know the answer to that question.

Kendall immediately recognized his father when he noticed him by the window on the far side of the restaurant. He nudged Katie and started to walk over to him. Yeah, he was the same, just as he remembered him. Short, wavy brown hair, hazel eyes, and medium sized eyebrows; the spitting image of Kendall, although his face was rounder. Yep, it was Kevin Knight.

Kendall heard Katie suck in a breath and he knew that she spotted him as well. They approached the table and Kendall quickly cleared his throat.

Kevin turned towards his kids and a surprised look slid onto his face. But the look went away fast, as quick as it had appeared.

"Kendall, Katie," he said solemnly, "Wow," he gave a nervous laugh. "It's been what, eight years?" Kendall and Katie stayed silent. "Please, sit down." They did as they were told. "If it's alright, I already ordered for you." Katie just nodded unable to say anything. "Your favorites, steak, medium-well-"

"I like mine medium-rare!" Kendall interrupted. "Not that I expected _you_ to know that." Kevin looked over at his son and then sighed heavily.

Silence filled the table, the sound of knives and forks clinking over plates around them along with the soft piano music just caused things to be even more nerve wracking. Katie just took a sip from her glass of water, looking around, not sure what to do or say.

'_You've waited eight years for this_' she told herself. '_And now that it's happening, you don't know what to say or do._'

"So," Kevin licked his lips and gave another short burst of nervous laughter. "How have you been?" he asked.

"Good" Kendall replied shortly, his eyes boring into his father's, "you?"

"Fine"

"Really?" Kendall's eyebrow twitched.

"Yeah" There was another lapse of silence. Kevin cracked his knuckles. He knew that he deserved this, but he didn't want things to be this hard. "So how's city life been treating you? Been busy?"

"You could say that." Kendall replied.

"Alright," Kevin rested his arms on the table. "I know that you're mad at me, Kendall, but-"

"Mad?" Kendall laughed. "No, I'm way past mad, dad, I'm pissed off!" He slapped the table so loud that the couple at the table next to them looked over and then stuck their noses in the air. "I've been pissed off for _eight years_! _You_ left us, and _you _caused me to go and have to get a job when I should have been hanging out with my friends to make sure that my mom and my sister were ok."

"How are things, are they-"

"That's none of your goddamn business!" Kendall hissed. "Ever since you walked out, nothing in my life has been your business."

"Are you still mad at me Kates?" Kevin asked as he turned to his daughter. Katie flinched when he looked at her, as well as saying her nickname, the one that he had given her and that everyone used. It was fine whenever her friends used it, but now, when her father said it, it freaked her out.

"Mad?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah," Kevin nodded. "I left and-"

"Broke your promise." Kendall cut in.

Kevin looked at his son and the two of them stared at each other sharply, not sure who was going to back down first. Eventually, Kevin looked away, and Kendall knew that he had won power over his father just by that. "I broke my promise." He conceded.

"Don't worry I've gotten over it." Katie replied coolly, her hands shaking in her lap. "It's been what, eight years…too long to hold a grudge." She scoffed as she shook her head. "You broke more than your promise, you broke your family."

"I'm sorry," Kevin whispered, looking like he was trying to be sorry. But it didn't reach his eyes; he wasn't being sincere at all. "I'm sorry that I came eight years too late." He moved his hands into a pleading position. "But I'm here now and I want things to change-"

"That's bull!" Kendall interrupted. "If you wanted things to change, then you would have done it a long time ago! What do you want and why are you here?"

"I'm here to see-"

"Tell us what you want!" Katie interrupted. "It's the least that you could do." She sat back as the waiter arrived at their table, handing out their plates of food. Kevin immediately dove into the food, but Kendall and Katie refused to touch there.

"You see," Kevin finally spoke up, only seconds after finishing half of his plate. "I know how you're in a band and that you're doing really well," he explained looking from Kendall to Katie. "I know that both of you are doing such great things out here in LA and I'm so proud of you."

"And?" Kendall prompted.

"And," Kevin raised his hand to his mouth and started to bite on his nails, the same bad habit that Kendall had when he was nervous. "Well, I'm in a bit of a bind. The company that I work for, it's being downsized and I don't know if I have the funds left to-"

"Unbelievable," Kendall interrupted, his eyes widening with shock.

"What?" Katie demanded. "I don't get it."

"It's not that bad sweetie," Kevin reached a hand out towards his daughter. "I just need to-"

"What he _needs_" Kendall jumped out of his chair, shoving Kevin's hands away from his sister. "Is money. The only reason that he's here is because he knows of the money that I'm making from Big Time Rush and he wants it. Go ahead and try and deny it." Kevin stayed silent as he looked up at his son, who was seething with anger. Katie quietly slid out of her chair, staring at her father in shock, an unrecognizable look on his face. "Deny it, damn you!"

But Kevin couldn't and from the look on his face, Kendall knew that it would be impossible for him to do so. Kendall lowered his head, allowing his bangs to fall in his face, trying not to lose his cool. Beside him, he could hear his sister start to cry, the music in the restaurant had cut off and he was sure that everyone was staring.

"If you'll just listen…"

"I tried to wait for you…I waited everyday for the past eight years…but you never came, never bothered to come back. I tried to wait for you for as long as I could…until I realized it was time for me to move on. You were never coming back." Kendall gritted his teeth together. "I waited for you to come back to us, to realize that you made a mistake…" Kendall said quietly, trying to hold in the tears that were threatening to come. "But you never bothered to contact us and when you _finally_ did, all you wanted was money." He took another deep breath and finally looked up at his dad. "Just, go and leave dad," Kendall stated as he stood by his chair, holding onto it with the back of his hands. "Just, this time, don't come back." He shook his head. "We don't ever want to see you again." Beside him, Katie nodded. "C'mon," he gently nudged Katie's side and led her out of the restaurant, leaving Kevin Knight behind.

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Katie stood by her brother on the sidewalk, waiting for another cab to take them back to the hotel. Everything that she had secretly hoped and wished for had come crashing down from the greedy hands of her father. And when Kendall turned to her and grabbed her into his arms, giving her a hug that lifted her off of her feet, she knew that he felt the exact same way.

* * *

Kendall and Katie got back onto the hotel, trying to keep their faces void of any emotion, so their friends wouldn't bother them with questions, but they knew that their friends were going to want to know what happened. As soon as they stepped into the lobby, Katie blinked when she saw Noah sitting on one of the couches, his hands folded on his lap, looking patient.

"Go ahead." Katie looked up at Kendall, who ran his hands over his face and then gave his sister a smile. "Go ahead and talk to him, I'll be in my room."

Katie nodded her tanks and Kendall gave her a hug before going over to the elevators. She sighed as she walked over to Noah, wringing her hands together. Noah looked up as she approached, but didn't move or stand when she sat down next to him. In a way, it was comforting to her, knowing that he wasn't going to say anything first, it just made it easier for her to come to terms with what happened. Tear pricked at Katie's eyes, and before she knew it, she had her face pressed against Noah's chest, sobbing as he rubbed her back.

"Why doesn't he want me?" Katie sobbed into his chest as Noah gently rubbed her back. "After all of these years, he's missed so much, and I thought that he would want to be part of our family again. What did we do wrong?"

"_You _didn't do anything," Noah replied as he continued to rub her back. "It's your father that did wrong, he's not doing his job, working to protect you guys and he was never fit to do it, in a way," he shrugged. "It was a good thing he left."

"But it makes me feel like I wasn't good enough for him." Katie's sobs had quieted, but she was still crying pretty hard. It took a good while for each of her words to get out forming the sentence, but Noah still hear her.

"Well, you're good enough for me." Noah stated and wrapped both of his arms around her in a hug. "And for Patrick and for Sydney." He paused for a second. "But mostly for me," he blushed a little as he heard Katie's laugh. "And you're good enough for Kendall, Logan, James, Carlos, and all of our friends. Don't worry about your dad, he made a mistake leaving you guys and he made an even bigger mistake wanting to try and come in contact with you again."

Katie stayed silent.

"Do you want to go hang out with the others?" Noah asked after a minute.

"No, I want to stay here."

"Alright." Noah shifted on the couch, pulling his legs up and crossing them so he could get more comfortable. "We won't go until you want to."

"Thank you."

"No problem."

* * *

**A/N: I'm sorry that this chapter was shorter and probably worse than all of the other chapters in this story, but I hope that it got to the point. I know that I said that this chapter was going to have Logan, James, and the others, but then I thought that it would be a stronger chapter if it was only about Kendall, Katie, and what their dad wanted. But it will get back to everyone else in the next chapter as well as showing the adults' reaction to what happened with them. I hope you liked it and I'll update again soon, but probably not until next Monday, because my exams start this Wednesday.**

**Cheers,**

**-Riley**


	29. Big Time Back Together

**Chapter Twenty-Nine – Big Time Back Together**

* * *

"He did _what?_" Patrick asked.

Katie, Noah, and Sydney rolled their eyes the next day as Patrick asked the same question for the twentieth time in an hour. Sydney gave a wry smile as he sat up on the couch, moving over to his brother.

"I can fix that," he said and stood up behind his brother. He pulled his arm back and whacked his brother across the back of the head so hard that there was an audible smacking sound. "Wow," Sydney's eyes widened. "There really _is _nothing in his head."

"Haha." Patrick grabbed onto Sydney's arm and pulled him into his back. "Explain to me again exactly what he said," he then raised an eyebrow when he looked over at Noah and Katie, the former having his arm around her shoulders. "And explain to me why you're sitting so close when you usually avoid closeness like the plague."

Noah gave him the stink-eye in reply.

"Not that it's any of _your _business," Katie laughed and playfully hit his spikes. "But, well, we're going on a date soon and-"

"You don't have to say anything more." Patrick interrupted.

"Please," Sydney grimaced. "Don't. I mean, I understand everything," his eyes widened. "And I mean _everything _about dating, but don't want to hear about it. Kissing and stuff, that's fine, anything else, no way!"

"You're only saying that just because you're going to follow us." Noah replied and Sydney smiled, letting him know that that was true. "But then again, we follow anyone that goes on a date so I don't see how that's surprising." He then peered at Patrick. "Why do you want to know anyway?"

"No reason." Patrick shrugged and started to mess with his feet. Katie raised her eyebrows as she stared at him, knowing him well enough to tell when he was hiding something. "Fine," he sighed and rolled his eyes. "It's just…I don't know, kind of annoying how every girl I like always gets taken by someone else." He let out a huff of air. "As stupid as this sounds, I figured I'd be the first one out of us to get a girlfriend."

"You mean you haven't gotten over your crush on Jo?" Sydney asked as he leaned down until his face was upside-down in front of his brother's.

"Maybe," Patrick replied. "No." He frowned. "I don't know!" He started to blush in embarrassment. "Just tell us what happened Katie."

"Subject changer."

"Shut up."

"Alright," Katie sighed and looked at her nails. "Kendall and I hate gotten to the restaurant, and I could tell that he was nervous but didn't want to show it, because he started to bite his nails." She rolled her eyes. "I'm always trying to get him to stop, but he never does. Anyway, as soon as I saw dad," she frowned. "I became happy I guess. I mean, after having waited so long to see him again, I just wanted to jump into his arms and tell him everything that he had missed." She stayed silent for a few moments. "But I also knew, there was a tiny part in the back of my mind at the time, that that was a really bad idea and that everything was going to blow up in my face."

"And it did, Kendall slowly started to get mad and I couldn't understand why, it seemed that dad actually cared about what we were doing. But then I realized what he really wanted, he knew how much money that Kendall was making, and he assumed that I was doing well too, because I've been in a few commercials and stuff, and he wanted my money too."

Katie let out a cry of frustration and slapped the couch, gritting her teeth. "I can't believe that I was that stupid to think that we were going to be a family again. He couldn't even deny that that was what he wanted. So Kendall told him off and we left."

"That's messed up." Patrick commented as soon as she finished.

"I think we've already established that point." Noah replied and then sighed. "Do you remember when dad pushed us all of the time with that?" he asked his brothers. "Always saying 'do it for the money', 'you're going to do this because it pays a lot', 'don't you realize what you're giving up'?" He rolled his eyes.

"At the time we didn't realize that he was just a greedy person that didn't care how his kids were," Sydney added and shook his head. "I think Katie got the longer end of the stick on this one," he commented. "But we've all had to deal with someone that sucked, and shouldn't make a competition out of it."

"Really." Katie agreed as she rolled her eyes. "I don't even want to think about it anymore." Her eyes lit up. "Let's go mess with the hotel manager," she shrugged. "It won't exactly be like messing with Bitters, but at least this manager won't know who we are!"

"I'll get the silly string!" Patrick declared and got off of the couch, still holding Sydney on his back and hurried into one of the bedrooms.

"You sure you're going to be ok?" Noah asked as he moved his arm from around Katie's shoulders and took her hand in his.

"You worry too much, you know that?" Katie replied, throwing a teasing smile his way.

"Hey I'm a Jackson," Noah shrugged carelessly and smiled. "We worry about others too much, but it's a blessing and a curse, you're just going to have to deal with it."

* * *

"You won't _believe_ what I just heard." Kelly stated as she hurried into the kitchen area of the suite that she, Kacy, Jo, Camille, Stephanie, and Katie were sharing. Gustavo, Kacy, Ronan, and Rhuben were sitting at the table talking, as Rhuben and Ronan were going over a schedule and a set-list for the rest of the tour. "It's about what happened with Kendall and Katie and their dad."

"Really?" Kacy looked interested. "What's up?" After Kendall and Katie had gotten back from talking to their father, Kacy had asked how it went, and was upset when they told her that they didn't want to tell her at first, just so they could still deal with what had happened. But she also understood, they needed their time to deal with the shock of seeing him again, and she was going to respect that.

"Apparently he only wanted to-"Kelly stopped talking and looked over at Rhuben.

"What?" she sounded offended. "They're my friends, I want to know too."

"She can stay," Ronan stated as he rolled his eyes towards Kelly. "He's not any better than Robert was." He added under his breath, re-focusing on the set list in his hand.

"Well, apparently he only wanted to come back because he was low on money and wanted to get some of Kendall's and Katie's." Kelly stated as she sat down at the table. Gustavo grunted loudly.

"Wow," he commented and looked over at Kacy. "Some husband you got there."

"_Ex_-husband." Ronan and Kacy corrected him sharply.

"Like that makes much of a difference," Rhuben replied as she rolled her eyes, and then smiled sweetly when she saw Ronan looking at her sharply. "But he really is a jerk, what kind of a self-respecting man would go and leave a family before coming back into their lives, making them get their hopes up, screwing up other people's lives in the process, and then drop a bombshell, saying that he only wanted their money." She shook her head. "He's more than a jerk, he's a di-"

"Be careful what you say," Ronan interrupted. "I can still ground you."

"Don't you think you're letting your insecurities get in the way of what you _really_ want to say?" Rhuben taunted her father and then frowned. "I'll shut up." She slid low in her chair.

"What about you, Kace?" Kelly asked as she turned to the red-haired woman beside him. "You've been really quiet.

"I'm just thinking." Kacy replied, moving her hands from her mouth, looking confused.

"About what…exactly?" Ronan asked, his voice cracking slightly.

"I'm wondering how someone I thought I knew so well turned into someone that I don't even recognize." Kacy replied and then looked angry. "How could he do that to his kids? Especially since Kendall was so close to him." She shook her head. "Did you know that for the first year and a half after Kevin left, Kendall would always sit by the front window, waiting for him to come home?"

"That must be why he's so overprotective of Katie." Rhuben remarked. "I mean, since he was supposed to be the 'man of the house' after that." She used air quotes around the words.

"Well how did you deal with it?" Kacy asked, turning to Rhuben, who looked confused. "I mean, you and Riley are now like the mothers of your family."

"Not anymore really, dad is here," Rhuben stated and smiled. "That's all we really need."

"No." Ronan replied.

"No, what?"

"I don't know what, but whatever it is, no." Ronan replied.

"I don't know why you guys are worrying so much about this," Gustavo grunted. "I mean, the man's gone, they seem to be fine, and now you don't have to worry about him coming back into your life anymore."

"You _really_ need to get a girlfriend." Kelly stated to her partner. "That way you can actually be more in tune with other people's feelings."

"I have feelings." Gustavo defended himself.

"For food." Rhuben replied as she raised her eyebrows and started to count off on her fingers. "And for yelling, and for making people feel miserable," she smiled as Gustavo looked like she was getting angrier and angrier. "Oh, but I respect you, Gustavo."

"You got guts, kid." Gustavo replied, sounding impressed. "You're the first person to stand up to me."

"And live." Kelly added.

"Mama Knight, do you want to know what I think?" Rhuben asked, turning to the older woman, who nodded. "I think…that you and Kendall and Katie are perfectly fine the way you are. You don't need to dwell on what your ex-husband has done. He left you guys, he made that decision and now it's biting him in the ass. You three are fine the way you are and you've gone this far by yourselves and you've all turned out perfectly fine. I think you should just focus on the tour and how you guys are doing well without him."

"Spoken like a true parent." Ronan smiled and reached out, purposely messing up Rhuben's hair.

"Yeah, well, unfortunately we kind of had to go through the same thing, and we turned out fine." Rhuben replied.

"She has a point though," Kelly agreed. "You all don't need this extra stress, and no matter whether or not he is sorry or not, you don't need it."

"So why is it that you can give me great advice when it comes to dating and stuff, yet, you don't have a boyfriend?" Ronan asked with a teasing smile, turning to her. He then reached out a hand and smacked Gustavo's as he tried to take a few chips off of his plate. "Back away from the chips!"

"You're not eating them!" Gustavo replied indignantly.

"I'm going to, keep your hands off!"

"And that, ladies," Kelly rolled her eyes over at Rhuben and Kacy. "Is why I don't have a boyfriend, because I'm too busy trying to keep these two babies in line." She smiled as the two of them laughed.

"So, what are you going to do about Kendall and Katie, Mama Knight?" Rhuben asked, turning to Kacy as she crossed her arms on the table and rested her head on her arms.

"I don't know," Kacy shook her head. "But I do know that since he hurt my kids, I never want to see that jerk again."

* * *

Kendall gritted his teeth against the pain of pressing his fingers against the fret board of his guitar as he played a song. He was playing the guitar to take out his anger on his dad. But it wasn't just anger it was disappointment and embarrassment. He should have known that he didn't want to come back into the family, and be his and Katie's dad again. He should have known that everything wasn't going to go back to the way it was before. But, he still wished that things were going to go well between them, not crash and burn like it had.

He felt like an idiot.

"It's a G."

Kendall looked up to see Riley standing in the doorway of his bedroom. He stared at her as she nervously tugged at the bottom of her tank top, waiting for him to answer. He just sat back and looked at her with raised eyebrows. He wasn't going to make it easy.

"You're playing You and I Both," Riley entered the room slowly, as if she was afraid that he was going to bite her head off of something. "Right?" she questioned and then continued, not waiting for him to answer. "The chord there is s G, not a D."

Kendall looked down at his fingers and realized she was right. He muttered a thank you before casting his guitar aside and lying back on his bed, running his hands over his face.

"Can I talk to you?" Riley questioned timidly.

Kendall moved his hands from his face and sat up again, looking over at Riley curiously. He could tell from the way that she asked and from the way that she was standing, looking like she was about to run away or puke all over herself (whichever came first), that she was nervous as hell. It was very unlike her, but it also showed him that she was serious.

"Sure." He replied and patted the bed so she could sit next to him. She sat down and pulled her feet up underneath her and took a short breath. "What's up?" he questioned gently.

"I…wanted to…apologize for what I said…when we broke up." Riley stated, finally looked over at him.

Kendall stared back at her and waited for her to continue.

"I didn't mean any of it at all." She bit her bottom lip, causing Kendall to smile a little. He knew that she hated to apologize and would only do it if she cared for someone and didn't want to hurt their feelings. "You're not a Big Time Loser and you weren't a bad boyfriend." She brushed her hair behind her ear. "I was just…I don't know, scared of how close you were getting to me when I have trouble expressing my feelings for someone. But that doesn't excuse how mean I was being to you after we broke up and how awkward things have been." She sighed. "I'm sorry."

"For the record you weren't a bad girlfriend either." Kendall finally spoke, looking at his hands and then looked back at her. "But I can also see how I backed you into a corner and you snapped. I don't think that you're heartless, you can have a really bad temper at times, but I don't think you're heartless. I don't think you're a bitch either." A smile tugged at his lips. "I think that you're the most amazing person that I've ever met." Riley blushed and looked away, causing Kendall to laugh. "Now why is it that whenever I give you a compliment you can't look me in the eye?"

"I'm embarrassed." Riley replied truthfully and looked at him again. "Anyway, the main reason that I can by, besides to apologize was that I was thinking." She let out a huge breath, her hands shaking. "Well, hoping that we could try again."

"Our relationship you mean?" Kendall asked, although he knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Yeah." Riley replied simply.

"I don't know," Kendall shrugged, looking away from her. "I mean, we both said a lot of things, and I know that you're probably never going to forget that I ever said that you deserved to be abused."

"You got that right," Riley agreed, raising and lowering a shoulder. "But that doesn't mean I don't forgive you for it."

"Yeah, but I shouldn't have said it." Kendall replied, lightly kicking the ground. "But, can I ask you something?" Riley nodded. "How come you didn't tell me everything that was bothering you before we ended up fighting?"

"I was freaked out I guess," Riley muttered as she twisted her finger around a loose thread of the comforter. She watched as her finger turned purple before letting it go again. "I mean, apart from my brothers and sister, I've always been an independent person, and having you get so close to me, so close that you knew what I was thinking before I even knew I was thinking it, and the fact that you wanted to be around me _all_ the time got on my nerves and scared me at the same time." She brushed her hair behind her ear. "Unfortunately I handled it in the worst way possible and blurted out everything that I was thinking and feeling without thinking about it first."

"I can see where that can be a problem." Kendall replied. "And I can see how I have been doing that as well."

The two smiled at each other.

Then there was silence.

"So what happened with your dad?" Riley got up from the bed and walked over to the window, looking out into the street at the cars that passed underneath them. "How was meeting up with him again?"

"You might as well say 'I Told You So'" Kendall replied, cracking his knuckles, sounding bitter. "You were right, all dad wanted out of Katie and me was the money that I was making from the band." He chuckled. "I just wish I knew that was all that he wanted, so I wouldn't have bothered going."

"But you couldn't have known that that was what he wanted." Riley remarked as she turned back around and looked at him, lightly chewing on the ends of her hair.

"Hair." Kendall remarked. Riley pulled her hair out of her mouth. "Yeah," Kendall sighed. "But you were still right with your gut instinct; I should have listened to you."

"But I could have been wrong."

"But you weren't."

"So who gets the father of the year award?" Riley asked, rolling her eyes. "The one that beat his kids almost to death or the one that walked out on his family and caused them grief when he came back?" She shrugged. "Either way it sounds bad."

"Really."

Riley gave a brief smile and then looked down and messed with her pink rhinestone Jack Skellington belt buckle that Rhuben had gotten her for Christmas. "So do you want to try again?" Riley questioned. "Us, I mean?"

"Well, just because you didn't _assume _that we'd get back together," Kendall smiled as Riley rolled her eyes when he used her words back against her. "I think that getting back together is a good idea." Riley grinned; the sparkle reaching her eyes as she moved crossed the room and wrapped her arms around Kendall's neck.

Kendall wrapped his arms around her body and pulled her tightly against him, reveling in the feeling of her body against his again. The smell of her hair and the way that she hugged him just made him feel whole again.

"Mm, strawberries." Kendall smirked when they pulled back from each other.

"Mm, Old Spice and soap." She replied and then looked shy. "I missed that," Riley stated, biting her lower lip to keep from smiling like an idiot as she took a step back.

"I missed this too," Kendall cupped her cheeks and kissed her sweetly. He pulled away and smiled gently. "So, are we going to tell everyone that we're back together or do you want them to figure it out for themselves?"

"I think we should tell them due to the massive amounts of stress we put on them," Riley laughed back. "Especially Logie-Bear and Syd." She looked at his guitar and picked it up, taking his guitar pick from the table.

"What about Ronan and my mom?" Kendall asked, suddenly remembering why they couldn't get back together after they apologized to each other the first time. "I mean, you didn't want to date me again at first because you thought that it would be weird and because you wanted Ronan to be happy."

"And I _do_ want him to be happy," Riley agreed with a short nod. "But you know me; I care about everyone's happiness before my own." She rolled her eyes a little. "But I think I deserve to be selfish every once in a while. I want to make myself happy, Dammit."

Kendall smiled and went to kiss her, but she placed a hand on his chest, pushing him back. Kendall pouted. "No kissy for Kendall?" he asked.

"You will," Riley replied as she adjusted her hand on the frets of Kendall's guitar. "But first, I want to play you something." Her face became enflamed as she started to play a tune that Kendall struggled to remember. "Don't laugh at me, ok?"

"I wouldn't dream of it." Kendall replied warmly.

Riley smiled and started to sing.

He smiled when he recognized it as Boys Like Girls' song Two Is Better Than One and couldn't help but think that it was the perfect song to describe the two of them. When she finished, her face was flaming red, as she set the guitar aside.

"Why's your face so red?" Kendall laughed, teasing her. "You don't have to be embarrassed, it's just me."

"I can't help it," Riley replied, being very much unlike herself, she covered her face with her hands. "Damn, I hate it when I blush." She groaned.

"Why?" Kendall moved her hands from her face. "It's cute, especially because your cheeks don't turn red, but it's the area right under your eyes that do." He smiled and kissed her cheek before kissing her lips passionately. The two continued to kiss as he gently laid her back down on his bed, climbing on top of her.

"Hm," Riley made a sound, opening her eyes and pulling away. "Shouldn't we tell the others that we're back together?"

"It can wait." Kendall replied with a smirk.

"No need, we already know," Kendall and Riley turned and laughed when they saw James, Logan, Carlos, Jo, Camille, Stephanie, and WayneWayne leaning in the doorway, obviously having watched and listened to their whole conversation. James smiled, as he was the one that spoke up, and walked into the room. "Great, now that we got the 'will they, won't they' crap out of the way," a serious look slid onto his face and he crossed his arms over his chest. "What happened with your dad?"

Kendall sighed and sat up. "You all want to know?"

"Of course." Camille replied in a comforting tone. "We always want to know what's going on with your friends."

"I think we've already established that." Riley replied as she pulled her hair into a ponytail, her cheeks still a little red.

"Yes, Kendall, we want to know." Jo insisted making sure the subject wasn't changed. "We know that you and Katie have been bummed ever since you saw him yesterday and all of this waiting is driving us crazy."

"If there's anything that we can do to help, then we will." Carlos added.

"Alright," Kendall sighed and rubbed his hands together. "Well, you know how you guys always thought that my dad was a jerk for leaving us with no explanation and with, basically, no money?" he asked, speaking mostly to Carlos, James, and Logan, but also to everyone else. Kendall gave a smile. "Well some things have changed; he doesn't have much money left."

"What do you mean?" Logan asked, briefly glancing at his friends before looking back at Kendall.

"I mean that my dad is still a jerk," Kendall raised his hands and shrugged again, appearing to not care about the whole situation when in actuality he cared a lot. "But he doesn't have much money left." His shoulders drooped when his friends continued to stare. "The only reason he wanted me and Katie to come out to see him was because he's in jeopardy of losing his job and needs some of the money that I have been making from Big Time Rush, and some of the money that _she's_ been making from commercials and stuff." He shook his head. "He didn't want us back as a family."

"What a dick!" James suddenly cried, looking angrier than anyone had ever seen him before. "I mean, he shouldn't get away with leading you guys on like that!"

"James, calm down." Logan stated as he lightly touched his friend on the arm. "It's happened and there's nothing that we can do to change it."

"Are you guys ok?" Stephanie asked as she crossed her arms over her chest, looking worried.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine." Kendall replied, sounding a bit sarcastic. Carlos jumped onto the bed beside him and peered right into his friend's face. "What are you doing?" Kendall laughed, leaning back as Carlos leaned forward. "Seriously, knock it off!" Kendall pushed Carlos to the ground, causing everyone to laugh.

"Are you sure you're fine, dude?" WayneWayne asked, running his hand through his hair. "I mean, you're the kind of person that will try to hide what they're feeling so no one else has to worry."

"But with you, we can't help but worry." Camille agreed and reached out, messing up his hair. "With all of you guys we can't help but worry when you're not being yourselves." She laughed. "I mean, the one day when you're all quiet will _definitely_ tip us off that something is wrong."

"Whatever," Kendall then squinted and looked up at James. "What's up with you? You haven't said anything for two minutes."

"That's because I'm plotting a way to kill your dad." James replied sharply.

"James," Jo frowned as she walked over to her boyfriend and rested a hand on his arm. "Are you sure that you're not just worried that because your parents got a divorce and Kendall's parents got a divorce, that your dad will do the same thing to you?"

"No, my dad isn't _that_ stupid," James replied as he shook his head. "But I always thought that Kendall's dad was because he left them when they were really young, my dad left when I was 12." He shook his head in frustration and looked at Kendall. "I'm sorry dude, but it's not fair. I would rather have this happen to me, because I know that there's no way that my dad would want to marry my mom again. But this," he shook his head. "This was just cruel, having your kids think that you wanted them back and all you actually wanted was money."

"Dude," Kendall stood up and grabbed James by the shoulders and shook him. "You're an awesome best friend for that-"

"Hey!" Logan and Carlos cried in unison.

"You guys too," Kendall rolled his eyes. "But I'm telling you I'm fine. I'm glad that I know this now so I don't have to worry about it ever again. In actuality, I'm worried about Katie."

"I'm almost positive you don't have to worry about her," Riley commented. "She, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney are down in the lobby messing with the manager." She looked around at everyone in the room. "So don't be surprised if we suddenly get kicked out."

"It's happened before?" WayneWayne looked amused.

"Yep."

"So if you want to kill my dad you can," Kendall stated and punched James on the shoulder. "I just wouldn't want you going to jail." He paused. "Because your mom is going to be the one that bails you out," he sucked in a breath. "But knowing her, she'll probably leave you there with no Cuda shampoo."

James screamed and grabbed onto his head, then started laughing along with Kendall.

"Fine, dude, I won't kill your dad." James promised. "But I can't guarantee that I won't hate him."

"That's fine." Kendall replied truthfully. "It would be the first time someone hated him."

Everyone turned as there was suddenly the sound of someone's stomach growling. Carlos, who was sitting on the floor, smiled sheepishly and held his hands over his stomach. "So I'm hungry." He shrugged. "What else is new?"

"Let's go find a place to get lunch then," Stephanie laughed as she pulled her boyfriend to her feet. "It'll be good to get something else other than stuff from the grocery store and hotel food."

"Anything but McDonalds," Jo agreed as she followed the two out of the room. "I'm getting sick it and there's only so much that you can get off of the dollar menu."

Kendall smiled and watched as his friends left. He looked down when he felt Riley rested her head against his arm, looking up at him. "Are you sure you're ok?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"I promise, I'm fine." Kendall replied and then smiled. "But I'll feel better," Kendall reached into his pocket. "If you wore this again." He gently pulled her necklace out of his pocket and held it up, looking at her with a questioning look in his eyes. Riley turned around and held up the back of her hair and Kendall slipped the necklace over her head and clasped it around her neck.

Kendall smiled as she turned back around and gave him a hug.

* * *

**A/N: I wasn't planning on doing this chapter, but I was in a good mood and I'll be done with my exams today so I decided to put it up for you guys. I hope you liked it. I'm not sure when I'll update again after this, but it should be soon.**

**Cheers,**

**-Riley**


	30. Big Time Fans

**Chapter Thirty – Big Time Fans**

* * *

"Ugh, why are we watching Anchorman?" Riley asked as she tilted her head back until it rested against the top of the couch behind her. "I hate this movie."

"You hate everything," Logan commented as he looked at the remote before pressing the 'PLAY' button. He then sat down on the couch in between Riley and Rhuben and rested his arms against the back of the couch. "Besides, it's my turn to choose what we do and I wanted to watch a movie, and I love this one."

"I thought it was my turn to choose what we did today," Rhuben thought out loud as a confused look crossed her face, leaning into Logan's side as she brought one leg up over the knee of her other one.

"It was," Riley pointed out. "But then you swapped your turn with Logan's because you really wanted to watch that thing on TLC about child pageants or something-"

"You have to admit putting little girls through that is just wrong!" Rhuben declared.

Logan smiled and shook his head as he shushed his friends and turned up the volume on the TV as the opening credits starts to roll. It was a tradition, for the three of them, that they would spend every Friday night doing something that one of them chose to do, going in a circle. When they were younger (and weren't constantly over at each other's houses) Riley, Rhuben, and Logan had decided that every day would be a day where they would go and do something fun that one of them chose to do and no one could complain about it, and it had been a tradition for them when they were back in Texas. When the three of them had met up again in LA, after they had become friends again, they started up the tradition again and tonight was one of those nights.

They were only a half hour into the movie when Jo appeared at the doorway of the sitting area. "I don't want to interrupt you guys," she apologized in a loud whisper, and then turned to Rhuben. "But I was wondering if you were able to ask your dad about the party yet?"

"He already knows that we're up to something," Rhuben replied as she picked at her fingernails then looked up at Jo, shrugging. "He said 'no' without knowing what it was."

"Which means that you didn't actually ask." Jo stated with a nod and raise of her eyebrows.

"Not exactly." Rhuben admitted.

"Well, Logan, why don't you try asking Gustavo and Kelly?" Jo asked as she turned to Logan. "It's not all the time that you can have a party with your fans as well as doing something for charity." She added as Logan snorted.

"Do you _want _me to die?" Logan asked. "I mean, we already know that Gustavo is going to be against it, because he's going to say that we're not motivated with what we're supposed to be doing-"

"What we're _supposed_ to be doing is having some time off so we can be teenagers," Riley interrupted, muttering into her palm as she twirled some of her hair around her finger, looking for split ends. Logan shifted and turned his head, looking down at her.

"Oh yeah?" he goaded. "Then why don't you ask your dad to see if we can go to that party?"

"I would, but-"

"No excuses!" Jo grabbed onto Riley's arm and dragged her off of the couch. "Katie tried asking her mom, but she went all Mama Bear on her and said 'no', so you're basically our last hope with this."

"Ugh," Riley frowned. "Why can't we just get Sydney to ask?"

"You know that he's horrible when it comes to asking Ronan about anything," Rhuben replied, holding onto the side of the bus as it took a sharp turn. "He cracks and basically rats out anyone in the vicinity because he can't lie."

"Good point." Riley grumbled. "Fine, but I'm not promising anything." Riley left the small TV area and went downstairs to the other TV area, where Ronan and Kacy were watching TV. Riley gave a small smile before clearing her throat and walking in. "Am I interrupting?" she asked.

"No, not at all," Ronan replied quickly as he grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. "It was perfect timing actually."

Kacy rolled her eyes and slapped him on the chest. "He's just mad because I was making him watch a 'chick flick'" she used air quotes around the words and then smiled over at Riley. "What can we do for you?"

'_Well, maybe since Ronan is in a good mood, he'd let us go to that party._' Riley thought to herself before clearing her throat again. "Well, you see, we're starting to get kind of tired of having to constantly go on the road and only do concerts…"

"Well, that's what happens when you're in a band," Ronan pointed out as he raised his eyebrows. "You know that, you've been doing this for a while."

"That's true," Riley agreed. "And even back then, because our dad was still around, we weren't able to do much to still act like teenagers when we had a few days off during the concerts that we were doing."

"That's a good point." Kacy agreed.

"So what is it that you want, exactly?" Ronan asked as he narrowed his eyes.

"Well, see," Riley licked her lips. "In the next city that we're stopping at, there's a party that's going to go on, and it's for charity," she stated quickly. "And basically what it is, is that there's a bunch of celebrities that are going to go and auction off some of their stuff to the fans that are going as well, and we were hoping-"

"No." Ronan interrupted.

"No, what?"

"No, you guys can't go."

"Well, why not?" Riley asked, sticking out her lower lip in a pout.

"Yeah, that's not going to work," Ronan advised her in a warning tone. "So you might as well suck your lip back in." He sighed and ran his hands over his face. "I'm saying 'no' for the same reason that Gustavo or Kelly would say 'no'. We don't know what your fans will do, and they have gotten pretty crazy in the past, and we don't want to have to worry about one of you guys getting hurt, some partygoers getting hurt if there's a stampede, or if there's any publicity that we're going to have to deal with."

"But we've gone to these kind of things before-"

"Yes, and that was when they were events sponsored by ARIA or other record companies that we have affiliations with," Ronan replied calmly. "And we didn't have to worry about things going out of hand then."

"But we-"

"I said no." Ronan replied firmly.

"Fine," Riley huffed and turned around and left the TV area, bumping into Kendall and WayneWayne in the kitchen as they grabbed ice cream bars from the freezer. "Hand me one?" WayneWayne grabbed one out of the freezer and tossed it to her. "Thanks."

"What's up, Ruby?" Kendall asked when he noticed the look on her face.

"I just asked Dad about that party and he said 'no go'." Riley replied.

"Yeah, Katie and I asked our mom the same thing," Kendall stated as he shrugged. "I don't think she had the same reasoning to say 'no', but she is really protective of us sometimes."

"You got that right," WayneWayne muttered in agreement, licking ice cream from the side of his bar. He suddenly started to smile a little bit. "What if I told you guys that there was probably a way that we _could_ go to that party?" he asked suddenly.

* * *

"Do you really think that we can convince them that we're all sick?" James asked as he grabbed a squirt water bottle and sprayed himself in the face. "_And_ that Mama Knight doesn't have to stay behind to take care of us? I mean, I don't know about you, but I know that Mama Knight can't leave anyone even if they've sneezed once."

"Yeah, I don't think that this is going to work." Carlos added as James passed him the squirt bottle and rolled it through his hands. "I mean, is it even worth it?"

"These kinds of parties are like, even bigger than the ARIA awards," Sydney commented from where he was sitting on the floor by his feet. After WayneWayne had brought up the idea of playing sick as soon as they got to the hotel to have Ronan and Kacy to leave so they could sneak out, he had gotten everyone together in the upstairs TV room to tell them his plan. "But then again," he frowned. "You know I'm not one for lying."

"Yeah, but we can't leave you in the hotel alone," Camille commented reasonably. "And we all really want to go to this party, so there's not much that we could do here."

"And if we left you back at the hotel, there was no question that you would crack as soon as they came back." Kendall agreed. "It's better if you came with us," he agreed. "And then one of us can watch out for you to make sure that you don't get hurt or anything."

"Gee thanks, I don't want to feel like a burden." Sydney replied sarcastically.

"Trust me," Katie smiled and gently patted his arm. "You're not."

"Ok, but if we're going to do this, which I think is really stupid," Logan stated, just for the record. "What kind of illness can we pretend that we have?" He asked and then sighed when everyone else just looked around. "Ok, you guys obviously don't think this through a lot.

"Oh yeah?" Jo challenged. "What were you thinking of then?"

"Food poisoning," Logan replied with a smirk. "All we have to do is say that those ice cream bars that are in the freezer have expired and we didn't know it, and so we got sick." He grabbed the squirt water bottle. "This will make it seem like we're sweating, but the basic signs of food poisoning is Nausea, Vomiting, Diarrhea, and Abdominal cramping."

"Oh, I think us girls can fake cramping well enough." Stephanie stated with a smile.

"Thanks for that image; it's something that I would rather pretend not happen." Patrick stated as he clasped his hands over his ears. "I mean, I barely notice it when Ri-Ri and Rhu-Rhu get their periods, because they don't PMS."

"Thanks for sharing." Rhuben stated and lightly kicked him in the back.

"So, how do you propose that we fake throwing up?" WayneWayne asked his arms crossed over his chest, looking serious as he concentrated on everything that Logan was saying, just to make sure that were was no way that things could go wrong. "I mean, I'm all for sticking my finger down my throat if I ever need to, but then again, I hate that feeling and my gag reflex sucks."

Logan reached under his seat and pulled out a can of vegetable soup. "You make retching sounds and pour this into the toilet."

"Mm," Camille crossed her legs. "It sounds like you've done this before?"

"Who do you think was the one that helped us sneak out whenever got grounded back home?" Carlos asked as he grabbed the can from Logan.

Noah looked up at it, then turned his gaze over everyone else, and then took a deep breath. "So," he breathed a sigh. "When does this plan go into action?"

"As soon as we get to the hotel," WayneWayne replied with a smirk. '_I hope this goes well_' he thought to himself as he then turned and looked out the bus window, getting jostled I his seat as they ran over a pot hole. '_I know that a lot can go wrong with this and that my friends can get into a lot of trouble. But we all need a break sometimes, and I can only hope that the adults understand that._'

* * *

"Mommy, I don't feel so good." Katie whined as she wrapped her arms around her stomach, rolling onto her side on the hotel bed. She smiled a little when her back was towards her mother. The plan was working already, a few moments before, WayneWayne had sent everyone a text telling them to start the plan, and it was now rolling smoothly.

All they needed was to get Gustavo, Kelly, Ronan, and Kacy out of the hotel for a while and they could go to the party and get back in bed before anyone could tell that they were gone.

Simple right?

Kacy frowned as she leaned over her daughter and placed a hand on her forehead. "You feel kind of warm," she concluded and then wiped off her hand. "And kind of clammy." She added, and then gently smoothed Katie's hair off of her forehead. "What's wrong, sweetie?"

"My stomach!" Katie groaned. "Ugh, I must have eaten something bad!"

"Well, what could you have eaten that the rest of us haven't?" Kacy asked as she rubbed her chin in thought. "I've been cooking all of your food and the hotel food that we've been eating hasn't been bad and-"

"Mom," Kendall took that opportunity to walk into the room, holding onto his stomach, hunching over a little bit. "I don't feel so good." He mumbled, trying to look pitiful and weary. "It's my stomach, it feels funny."

Kacy hurried over to her son and then placed her hand on his forehead as well. "You're burning up too." She grabbed Kendall's arm and walked him over to the bed, next to his sister. "Honey, did you eat anything today?"

"Well, apart from dinner we all had these ice cream bars…" Kendall groaned and held onto his stomach. "Which I think I'm going to see again!" He jumped up and held a hand over his mouth. "Excuse me!" He raced to the bathroom and closed and locked the door behind him. Quickly, and making retching sounds as he went, Kendall reached into the cabinet under the sink and pulled out a can of vegetable soup as well as a can opener.

Kendall opened the can of soup and shuffled over to the toilet and quietly lifted the lid. Cough and making choking sounds, Kendall poured the soup into the toilet, half-disgusted, and half-amused that the sound and the look of the soup actually did look like puke. He then threw the can and the opener back under the sink and grabbed a hot towel off of the towel rack and held it over his forehead until he started to sweat some more.

"Kendall!" Katie then cried as she pounded on the door weakly. "Get out! I've got to…" she paused. "Go to the bathroom and quick!" She then grunted again. "Oh my stomach!"

Kendall smiled to himself before he frowned and messed up his hair, moving over to the bathroom door and opening it. Katie quickly pushed him aside and closed the bathroom door behind her. Kacy grabbed onto Kendall's arm and pulled him back over to the bed again.

"Oh, sweetie, I think that you guys ate bad ice cream bars." Kacy sighed as she gently laid him down. "I mean, Ronan and I haven't eaten them, and I'm sure Kelly hasn't." She let out a short gasp. "I wonder if Gustavo-"

"Mom, do you notice how big he is?" Kendall interrupted her. "He can probably eat tainted fish and not get sick." He let out a short moan. "His stomach is probably immune."

"Good point." Kacy agreed. "Well, maybe I should stay here and-"

"Kace," Ronan knocked on the hotel door loudly. Kacy walked over to the door and pulled it open and Ronan strode in side. "Bad news, the kids got food poisoning." He stated.

"Yeah, so are Kendall and Katie." Kacy agreed as she waved an arm over to Kendall. "I think _all_ of the kids are sick, I mean, they're basically the only ones that eat those ice cream bars."

"Yeah," Ronan agreed slowly. "But what about Gust-"

"We already went over that!" Kendall interrupted, willing them to leave. '_C'mon, get out of here, so you can go have fun and we can get to that party._'

"Well, you've said that Logan and Riley want to be doctors and can help with basically any problem that anyone has," Kacy stated and turned to Ronan with wide eyes. "Maybe they can all keep each other company and we can go-"

"Where are you going?" Kendall asked weakly.

"Excuse me?" Kacy asked, with an amused half-smile as she turned back towards her son. Even though part of her thought that it was weird that he wanted her to baby him (especially since he was the one that made such a big deal about house sitting Gustavo's mansion) she was also touched.

"Where are you going?" Kendall asked again.

Ronan decided to answer. "Well if you guys were sick and were just going to take care of each other, we thought that Gustavo, Kelly, Kacy, and I would—"

"Aren't you supposed to be taking care of me or something?" Kendall asked, trying to look pitiful.

Kacy smiled, "I think seventeen is an old enough age."

"For _what_?"

"For a lot of things, Kendall."

"So...you're just going to _leave your __**sick **__son and daughter here in the hotel_?"

"...you won't die, Kendall."

"That's what you said when I was seven!" Kendall stated to his mom, his eyes growing wide. "Do you know how traumatizing that was?" He reached out and grabbed onto Kacy's arm. "You have _scarred_ me for life, mom!"

"Kendall, that's a load of crap!" Ronan laughed as Kacy smiled and pushed her son's hand off of her arm. "Plus if she's been saying that since you were seven, you seemed to have turned out fine." He then reached over and peered into Kendall's face before standing straight and punching his arms into the air. "And 'lo and behold, you're _not _dead."

"Very funny." Kendall winced.

"Are you sure that you're going to be fine without me, honey?" Kacy asked, still hesitant.

"Well, it's like you said Logan and Riley both know how to deal with food poisoning and as long as we're together we can share in each other's misery." Kendall stated as he propped himself up on his pillows. "Go and have fun." He smiled. "You deserve it."

'_Anything to get you out of here faster._' He added to himself.

"Alright," Kacy turned and grabbed her purse. "But I have my phone, call me if you need me and take care of your sister."

"Got it." Kendall replied and then winced, turning on his side.

"Bye!" Katie called weakly from the bathroom as Kacy and Ronan left the room. As soon as the door closed behind them, the bathroom door opened and Katie stepped out of the bathroom, wearing makeup and in a ruffled black dress as well as black flats. "Hurry up and let's go!" she stated, throwing a shirt and a pair of pants towards Kendall.

"Alright, alright," Kendal chided as he got out of the bed and wiped off his forehead. He then looked over at his sister. "We really need to have a conversation about your outfit choices." He stated.

"Just go." Katie rolled her eyes and smiled.

* * *

"This party is really cool!" Jo smiled as she looked around at the throng of dancing people. There were celebrities and fans talking to each other, some you could tell that were really star struck as they were running around, taking constant pictures.

After Kendall and Katie had gotten dressed, they went down to the lobby and met up with everyone else (who were also dressed in some fancy party attire) and called cabs to take them to the party. They snuck inside, after Sydney had caused a distraction, making sure that none of the paparazzi would get pictures of them entering the party, and then they immediately split up to go and talk to different celebs from around the world and fans alike.

"Yeah, but it would be better if there wasn't nearly as many paparazzi here." Rhuben agreed as she took a sip of the soda that was in her hand.

"There's not that many." Jo stated, looking confused.

"No," Riley commented, from Jo's other side. "She means all of the fans running about." She shrugged. "Don't get me wrong, most fans are chill, but then there are those that, don't know why to back off." She craned her head to the side as she looked across the crowd and nudged her sister. "Like her for example." She stated and pointed.

Rhuben followed Riley's gaze and her eyes narrowed slightly when she saw a tall brunette talking to Logan, a bright smile on her face as she lightly reached out and touched his arm.

"Wow, looks like you're going to blow, Rhu." Kendall commented as he walked up to Riley and handed her a soda can before stepping up next to her and putting his arm around her shoulder, just in case any guy wanted to try the same thing.

"Shut up, Kendall!" Rhuben snapped and shoved a soda can into his chest before walking across the party to her boyfriend.

"Hey, Logan," the brunette was saying in a charming tone as Rhuben got into ear-shot. "For the rest of you tour, I'll be checking in on you guys, okay?" She smiled and lightly touched Logan's arm again.

"Oh, really? Well, um, thanks…" Logan replied, embarrassed, pleased, and not really sure how to take the compliment.

Rhuben stepped in front of the girl with her arms crossed. "Don't worry," she said in a not very friendly tone. "He has enough support from me." She then tilted her head to the side and gave a tight smile. "So if you would be so kind as to back off of my boyfriend that would be great."

The brunette gave a short smile and quickly walked away.

"Wow, I never pegged you to be the jealous type." Logan commented as he turned to Rhuben.

"I'm not a jealous person," Rhuben replied and moved her hair behind her ears.

"Rhu, she was just trying to be nice…" Logan replied as he reached out and gently rubbed her cheek with his thumb.

"Probably," Rhuben admitted honestly. "And there are a lot of guys around that are trying to _be nice_," she put air quotes around the words. "To me too, but that doesn't mean I'm giving them any chances of dating me, am I?"

"She was just wishing me good luck; she didn't want to go out on a date!"

"Yes, but you're forgetting that there are a lot of girls out there who are willing to do _anything_ to date you or one of the other guys." Rhuben stated as she raised her eyebrows. "So I _do_ have the right to be…" she trailed off.

"Aww," Logan laughed and kissed her on the cheek. "You're jealous."

"I'm _not _jealous, Logie!" Rhuben insisted.

"You are, Bella."

"Am not!" Rhuben then took Logan's hand and started to walk across the grass towards the dance floor, walking on her tip-toes to make sure that her heels didn't sink into the ground. "Now come dance with me."

"Sure," Logan smiled and then put his arm around her shoulders. "But I'm just telling you that green isn't a good color on you."

"Shut up!"

Back across the party, James, Jo, Stephanie, and Carlos were talking to Orianthi and some other Australian celebrities when it happened. They had heard earlier that there was going to be a chance that fans were going to crash the party, after not having bought tickets to go, and that rumor was proven to be true as there were a lot of Big Time Rush fans milling around the party, following the guys wherever they went.

"Dude, parties like this are so awesome!" Carlos cried as he turned to James and exchanged a high-five with him. "They're even better than the ones that we could throw back in LA!"

"Maybe if we move out here we can become the Super Party Kings of Australia!" James added, causing the two of them to burst out into laughter.

"Times like these it makes me wonder why we decided to date them." Stephanie commented to Jo.

"I was thinking the same thing." Jo agreed.

"Oh my gosh, you're James and Carlos from Big Time Rush, aren't you?" A blonde girl asked as she hurried over to the four of them a taller blonde guy behind her. James and Carlos grinned and nodded.

"Wow, we're even being recognized in Australia," James grinned and then pulled a notepad from his pocket. "Achieve fame in another country besides the US, check!" He marked something off and put the notepad back into his pocket before turning to the girl. "What can we do for you? Autographs? Pictures?"

"How about you stop dating her," the girl replied, turning to Jo.

"Wha-"

Before Jo could finish her sentence, the girl pulled her arm back and punched Jo in the middle of the face. Jo immediately dropped to her knees, holding her hands over her face as she burst into tears. James quickly dropped down to Jo's side and tried to comfort her. Some people around them gasped and a large crowed formed around the six of them.

"Dude," Carlos looked down at Jo and then up at the guy that was with the girl. "How could you let her do that?"

"Well, I have to agree with my sister," the guy replied with a casual shrug. "He could do better."

"And you can do better when you get a pair of denchers," Carlos added, glaring at the guy. "You hurt one of my friends and now I'm going to knock your teeth out!" He threatened.

"Oh yeah?" The guy snorted and then pulled his arm back and punched Carlos in the eye.

"Carlos!" Stephanie cried in shock s he stumbled back into her, holding onto his eye.

"Jo, are you ok?" Camille pushed through the crowd with the rest of their friends and quickly kneeled down by her Jo's side, rubbing her back.

"What happened?" Patrick asked Stephanie, his eyes growing wide with shock. Noah stood by his side, his eyes widening.

"Is Joey ok?" Sydney asked, his lower lip trembling.

"Guys, I don't want to sound like a jerk," WayneWayne stated quickly. "But if we don't want to get a lot of attention, we're going to have to leave _now_!"

"Dubs is right," Riley agreed as she hurried over to the girls, holding onto their purses. "Let's go!"

They all quickly pushed their way through the crowd, James keeping Jo close to his side, and Stephanie holding onto Carlos' side so he didn't fall over from being disoriented and they walked a few blocks down the street before they started to try hailing a few cabs.

"Figures," Noah shook his head as Logan waved his arms frantically, trying to hail some cabs as fast as he could. "We come to the party of the year, and some crazy fan has to ruin it."

"It sucks, but as long as we don't get caught, then we don't have to worry about it." Sydney stated and his left eye started to twitch rapidly.

"What's wrong with his eye?" Katie asked as she turned to Patrick and Noah, looking confused and weirded out.

"Well, he does that every time he has to hide a secret and the guilt starts to get to him," Patrick replied and then turned to Katie with a sly smile. "Katie, how good are you with computers?" He asked.

"Why?" She replied, looking interested.

"Because we're going to need someone to troll the websites to make sure that none of this gets back to our parents." Kendall replied as he turned to his sister. "Can you do that for us, Baby Sister?"

"I think I can." Katie replied. "For a price."

"Who cares about that now?" WayneWayne asked, finally getting a cab. "Let's get back to the hotel and changed before the adults get back!"

* * *

"Let me just tell, you," Gustavo sighed as he leaned back in his chair, rubbing his stomach. "That was the best two-hour meal that I've ever had."

"It should be," Kelly commented as she rolled her eyes, her chin resting in her hand. "Because you were the one that ate most of the food in this restaurant." She stated, waving a breadstick around. "Which is also the reason as to why that Ronan, Kacy, and I had to get really small portions of our own food."

"That's because you guys have small stomachs." Gustavo replied.

"Yeah," Ronan rolled his eyes. "_That's_ the reason why." He pushed his plate away from him. "Let me just tell you something buddy," he looked Gustavo in the eye and smiled. "You're paying for the bill!"

Gustavo shrugged as Kacy sighed, running her necklace around her neck. "How do you think the kids are doing?" She looked worried. "I hope they're ok."

"I don't know," Ronan shrugged. "I've called their phones but they haven't answered," He made a face. "And Patrick _always_ has his phone on him."

"Yeah, but it just means that they're really sick." Kelly stated.

"Maybe," Kelly agreed. "Or maybe it just means that they don't want to answer their phones because they're getting in trouble with something." She then smiled as Ronan and Kacy looked at her skeptically. "You know how they are." She laughed. "They're the ones that pretty much make Bitters' life miserable back at the Palm Woods."

"As well as the fact that they make _my_ life miserable whenever I'm trying to work with them on something, but they just want to goof off." Gustavo scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. "Saying that 'you're too mean' and 'you yell at us too much'." He shook his head. "They're starting to sound like my mom."

"I'm surprised she could stand you for so long." Ronan commented. "God forbid it was because you were _too_ nice."

"Do you want to know why your parents had another kid after you?" Gustavo shot back. "Because they realized that they screwed up with you and wanted to have another chance for a perfect kid."

"Touché."

"Ronan has a point," Kacy suddenly spoke up. "Kendall is like completely attached to his phone, and it's like, a rule in my family that whenever I call they have to answer, and they haven't answered in a long time. Usually when they don't, it means that they've done something wrong and are trying to hide it."

"Which means…" Ronan trailed off as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"They're up to something." Kelly and Kacy stated in unison.

* * *

"Are you ok?" Stephanie asked as she handed Carlos and Jo an ice pack. She light reached over and ran her fingers over Carlos' black-eye. She winced as Carlos jerked away. "Sorry, how much does it hurt?"

"More than the time I slammed into the ground without my helmet on," Carlos groaned in reply.

"Which is what caused his mom to give him the helmet." James added with a short laugh.

Kendall laughed shortly as the others just muttered things under their breaths. As soon as the fight broke out, everyone quickly got out of the party, knowing that if they stayed too long, there was definitely going to be some press coverage over what happened, and if they were going to get caught, they didn't want it to be from the paparazzi and gossip websites. So they hurried back to the hotel, thankful that none of the adults were back, and quickly got some medication and some ice for Jo's and Carlos' faces.

"Ow, I'm sorry that this happened, guys." Rhuben stated as she looked over at Jo, who was still crying a little. "I mean, if it wasn't for us wanting to go to the party so badly-"

"It's not your fault," Jo replied as she wiped away some tears." She sniffed loudly. "We all wanted to go to the party."

"Yeah, but it was my idea to actually sneak out after the adults said no," WayneWayne spoke up. "If anyone needs to take the blame, it's me." He reached out and rubbed Jo's shoulder. "I'm really sorry Jo."

"It's alright," Jo gave a fleeting smile. "At least I can tell my future kids or just some of my friends and family from back home, what it's like dating someone that's famous." She then smiled a little wider. "And now I have some crazy fan stories."

"Yeah, well, I'm going to have to check on the both of you tomorrow to make sure that the swelling has gone down and that there isn't any further damage." Logan stated.

"We'll see you guys in the morning." Patrick added, giving a short wave before they all walked off, leaving Jo, James, Carlos, and Stephanie behind in the hotel room.

"Are you sure you're ok, baby?" James asked, pushing Jo's hair out of her face.

"No," Jo admitted and started to cry again. "Why would someone do that?"

"I don't know," James sighed as he handed Jo an ice pack. "But all I can say is that fans are crazy." He gently rubbed her back as she continued to sniff, holding the ice pack up to her face.

"You can say that again." Carlos agreed, holding an ice pack up to his face as well.

* * *

**A/N: And yes, sadly, there are fans out there that are crazy, and after hearing of a rumor that a fan had punched Selena Gomez in the face because she was dating Justin (which I'm still not sure is true or not) I figured what would happen if there were crazy fans where BTR and DE went and that's where this chapter came from. There was a little bit of everyone in this chapter and the next few will be like that as well. I hope you guys liked it and I'll update again soon.**

**Only 10 chapters left guys.  
**

**Cheers,**

**-Riley**


	31. Big Time Scare

**Chapter Thirty-One – Big Time Scare**

* * *

Stephanie frowned as she looked at her calendar.

She counted and re-counted the days, but the numbers showed the same thing over and over again. Sighing, she closed her phone and shoved it into her pocket, before getting up and walking out of her bedroom and then went into the large living room where everyone was gathered.

She smiled at the thought, after Ronan, Kelly, Gustavo, and Mrs. Knight had found out about them having gone to that party (which they had only found out about because Logan had gone to get more ice when they had gotten back, and quickly found out that they weren't sick) and had pretty much grounded all of them to one room where they could easily be watched whenever they needed to be.

"What are you guys watching?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"It's a show that's actually broadcasted from the UK called Ministry of Mayhem," Noah replied, turning from the TV to smile at her. "It's one of our favorite kid shows and we wanted them to see it as well."

"It's probably the randomest thing I've ever watched," Camille admitted, but then smiled. "But it's also every entertaining." She then looked up at Stephanie, raising her eyebrows. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Stephanie shook her head and forced a smile, brushing her hair behind her ears. "But, Carlos, I was wondering if I could talk to you."

"Yeah, sure." Carlos gave a wide grin and got up off of the couch, immediately losing his seat to Katie, and followed Stephanie into the room that she had just come out of, gently closing the door behind them. Riley waited until she was sure that they both couldn't hear her before she spoke up again.

"Something's up," Riley remarked with a sigh as she grabbed the remote from WayneWayne's hand and turned the volume down.

"How can you tell?" Camille asked as she turned to her.

"The look on Stephanie's face," Riley replied after a second. "Plus, she's been acting kind of strange today, like, not as lively as usual and she's been hauled up in that room for hours."

"So?" Kendall raised and lowered one shoulder.

"So, for Steph, that's not usual." Logan commented and then sighed. "I hope the both of them are going to be ok."

"I'm sure that everything is fine," Patrick replied as he shook his head. "Steph is a fighter and Carlos isn't as dumb as he acts sometimes." He smiled a little, but then it faded as a worried look crossed his face. "If there was anything wrong with them from the party last night, we would know by now."

"Yeah, but then you can say the same thing about Jo." Noah pointed out. "I mean, she's been in the room by herself almost all day."

"She hasn't _always_ been alone." James stated and smiled.

"You're a real winner, James." WayneWayne commented dryly, raising his hand for a high-five and then winced when James' cast slammed against his palm. He shook out his hand, to try and ease the pain as he addressed everyone else. "But I also think that you guys are freaking out over nothing."

"Well, we'll know as soon as they come back out." Katie said to close the conversation. Sydney looked up at all of them, an odd expression sliding over his face, and Katie noticed, but he said nothing. He just twisted his mouth to the side and turned his attention back to the TV.

Carlos closed the door behind him and Stephanie, a small smile on his face, before he turned around to face her. His smile faded when he saw her sitting on the bed, looking down at her lap. Carlos crossed the room to her and sat down on the bed next to her, putting an arm around his girlfriend's shoulders. "Steph, are you ok?" he asked gently.

"It depends on what you mean by 'ok'," Stephanie replied as she lifted her head. "Considering I didn't get punched yesterday," she snorted a little and reached out, gently moving her fingers across Carlos's eye. "I'm fine. But for something else…" she sighed and shook her head. "Not really."

"Steph, you're starting to scare me." Carlos said truthfully. '_What could it be that's wrong? She's not going to break up with me is she? After seeing how much of a wreck Kendall was when he broke up with Riley, I don't think that I would handle it._'

But he was thrown for a loop when Stephanie spoke up again.

"You're probably going to hate me once I tell you what I have to tell you." She whispered.

"Steph, I could _never _hate you," Carlos whispered back, now very worried. "Never. No matter what happens." He licked his lips. 'Now tell me what's going on, you're scaring me."

"Carlos…I'm late." Stephanie said, looking at him again, her eyes wide, unfocused. "I should have had my period by now, but I haven't. And…I'm afraid that…" she trailed off her sentence, but Carlos knew what she meant.

"But…how…" Carlos ran his fingers through his hair. "We always used a condom when we…"

"All except one time," Stephanie reminded him. "And it always takes one time for something like this to happen."

"Do you know for sure?" Carlos asked and Stephanie shook her head. "Then you should go get a test, or tell Mrs. Knight or-"

"I can't tell her! Or Kelly," Stephanie shook her head. "I can't! They'll probably send me back home, and that will just cause problems for the rest of them." She shook her head harder. "I don't know what to do." Carlos stayed silent. "You hate me don't you?" she asked, not getting a response.

"No, no," Carlos shook his head and licked his lips again. "No I don't. I just…"

"You need to think about it?" Stephanie prompted and Carlos nodded. "Yeah, me too."

"Ok," Carlos moved to give Stephanie a hug, but then stopped, and got up off of the bed and slowly left the room.

Stephanie turned and flopped onto the bed, putting her face into the pillows and laid there, thinking. What would they do if she was pregnant? It was enough time for them to get back home before she started to show, but what would happen? What would Ronan, Gustavo, Kelly, and Mrs. Knight think of her now? Will they keep the others from being friends with her? Would they distance themselves? Would they try to help her? All of those thoughts ran through her head and there was no way that she could get a response to them until she knew what was going on for sure.

Stephanie wiped the tears off of her cheeks and composed herself before she grabbed the doorknob and opened the door, walking back out into the living room. Stephanie frowned when Carlos's eyes shifted back and forth, and everyone else seemed to be making sure that they didn't look at her.

'_He told them._' Stephanie realized and looked over at Carlos, who had the decency to turn away in embarrassment. "I gotta get out of here." Stephanie decided.

"But we're grounded." Logan protested.

"So what?" Stephanie snapped back and turned to Jo, who was walking by, looking at her phone. "Hey, Jo, do you want to go to the store and check out some clothes?"

Jo lifted her head and smiled at Stephanie, the swelling of her face had already started to go down, depending on the way she turned her head, and you wouldn't have been able to notice it anyway. It was obvious from the way that she was acting, that she didn't know about what was going on.

"Yeah, that sounds like fun, I'm sure that the adults would understand that I need to get some fresh air or some ice or something to help my face." Jo giggled as she put her phone into her pocket. "Let me just get my shoes." She turned and disappeared from sight again.

"But Steph, don't you want to talk about-"Stephanie cut Kendall off as quickly as she could.

"I'm going to go to the store with Jo," Stephanie said and forced a smile. "See you guys later."

"You can talk to us Steph," James insisted, worried and slightly annoyed. "We're your friends and even though we don't know what you're going through personally, we can still try and help you the best way that we possibly can." Sydney, who was standing beside him, nodded silently as well.

She didn't know what it was, but something about seeing Sydney stand there and promise to help her, even though he was really young, broke something inside of her. It just everything that more real and she just needed to get out of there that much faster.

"I really want to-"

"Steph," Carlos called softly behind her. "I'm sorry that I told then when…clearly you didn't want me to." He licked his lips as he took a breath. "I'm really sorry, but please stay here so we can talk about it, so our friends can help us figure out what to do…depending on the outcome." There was another moment of silence. "Please?"

Stephanie looked over her shoulder at him and then gave him a soft smile before leaving the suite with Jo following behind her.

* * *

~**Stephanie's POV~**

"Steph, try on this dress!" Jo called, her eyes shining brightly as she shoved a dark green dress my way. I took the dress, giving a weak smile as I did so, and got into it, pulling it up over my clothes. "Uh, Steph," Jo giggled. "I think the point of trying on a dress is to actually wear it, instead of putting it over your clothes.

"How do I look?" I asked as I held my arms out and spun in a quick circle.

"Uh," Jo raised her eyebrows and then I looked at her sharply, us girls had a strict policy of when we try on dresses; we had to be honest with each other. "Kinda chubby."

"Shut up. I'm just…" I struggled to find the right words and not let my mind wander. I tried desperately not to panic as dots started connecting. "Bloated."

"God willing," Jo then suddenly looked a little bit suspicious. "When are you gonna get your period? My water weight always sucks the week before."

My mind went blank, and I looked at my shoes. A lump stuck in my throat, and I was sure that I didn't look flushed anymore. I was pale. I felt dizzy. I felt sick.

"Steph?"

"I usually get it around the twelfth," I finally answered, and noticed she was squatting a few inches so we were eye to eye.

"Okay," she whispered. "Steph, it's the twenty-ninth."

"I know…"

"Ok," Jo tapped her chin as she looked around and then motioned for me to take off the dress. "Get out of that," she instructed. "It's a good thing we're in a Wal-Mart kind of store," she added, sort of talking to herself, more than to me. "Let's get a pregnancy test."

"Jo!" I felt my eyes widen. "No!"

Jo placed her hands on her hips and looked at sharply. "You can't just put your fingers in your ears about this and hope it goes away." She grabbed my arm and started to take me to the aisle for it. I didn't have to say anything out loud, but I could tell that she knew that I didn't want to, or couldn't, willingly get the test.

It was just too shocking, that I could be…

I didn't want to think about it.

I followed Jo in a trance as she grabbed a pregnancy test and went to the cashier. "Ok," Jo sighed as she took the small bag and the receipt, turning to me. "Let's get back to the hotel, and then we can work this all out." I must have looked unconvinced because she then grabbed onto my shoulders and smiled gently. "No matter what the outcome is Steph, Carlos is always going to be there for you."

I nodded and followed Jo out of the store and we walked back to the hotel, keeping our heads down, walking in silence. As soon as we had gotten back, everyone looked unsure of what to say, and I didn't blame them. It must have been hard for them to even fathom what was going, the guys especially since Carlos hasn't told them about, um, sleeping with me, and the girls because they were worried about it.

"I got a pregnancy test," I said to them quietly. I didn't want Mrs. Knight or even Ronan to know what was going on, in case they walked through the door. "Uh, I'm going to go use it now, I guess."

"Um," Carlos licked his lips. "Do you want me to do…anything?" He shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked back and forth on his feet.

"No, I'm good." I replied and gave him the best smile that I could muster. "Really, I'm fine."

Carlos nodded and then hesitated for a second before stepping forward and wrapping his arms around me in a hug. That was definitely what I needed. I threw my arms around Carlos' neck and hugged him tightly. He gave me a kiss on the cheek and let me go, taking a step back, looking right into my eyes. I could tell from that look that he was hoping that everything would be ok, no matter what the outcome was.

I just wished I had that some sense of hope.

But I didn't, and I knew better than to tell myself otherwise.

Taking a deep breath, I went into the bathroom and gently closed the door behind me. I took the test out of the box and read the instructions, simple enough. I followed the directions, washed my hands, and then grabbed the stick again as I sat down.

It's funny, the many things that you notice, when you are trying to ignore the so called 'elephant' in the room. Like, that there are exactly 7225 holes in the ceiling squares, or how the cracks in the floor, leading away from the toilet, vaguely resemble lightening.

I was sitting on the toilet seat cover, glancing around the room, trying to ignore the object in my hand. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. A pale girl was looking back at me with a forbearing expression on her face.

I looked away.

Finally, I couldn't stand it any longer. It was hard to believe that the small, innocent-looking piece of plastic in my hand had the power to change my life forever. Such a tiny thing, to contain my whole future.

'_Look at it, Steph.' _ I told myself, willing the piece of plastic in my hand to say what I wanted it to say. '_Come on, look. You can do it.'_

I couldn't do it.

'_How do they tell anyway?' _ I wondered to myself, buying some time. 'I_ mean how do they know, just from some stick that you pee on?'_ I was trying to distract myself from the task at hand. I knew I had to do it.

There was no other alternative. I had to look.

_Negative._

I breathed out.

_Negative._

It was negative.

I wasn't pregnant; I wasn't going to have a baby, a baby that, up until that point, I had been convinced that I didn't want. _Negative._ Not positive. No baby. I would have a normal future; I wouldn't be a statistic shown on a commercial. I wouldn't walk be put in the spotlight of LA with a beach-ball stomach, feeling the glares of my peers on my back.

_Negative._

Without knowing why, I began to cry. One tear, then two. I bit my fist to hold the sobs in; I didn't want someone to hear me and come to see what was wrong.

'_Why are you crying?_ 'I asked myself. '_It's _negative._ No baby. You'll be able to forget this, move on. It's what you wanted, isn't it?'_

I guess that some small part of me that had been hidden had wanted this baby. Is it stupid to miss something that you never had, that you hadn't thought that you had wanted? Probably. But this baby, the one that didn't exist, had been a part of me, a small chapter that I had opened and closed in the span of a few days.

I stood up, and pulled myself together the best that I could.

Threw that pregnancy test in the trash, and washed my face.

Cleaned myself up, put on a smile, ready for the world.

Carlos and I, we can get through this together with a little help from our friends.

* * *

**A/N: So this was going to happen eventually, after all of the sex that Carlos and Stephanie has been having, there was bound to be a chance where she thought she was pregnant, and I thought about how that would play out with everyone finding out, so here you go. I know I said that this chapter was going to have a little bit of everyone and it didn't…so that's sort of a fail on my part. But next chapter will (especially with the adults). Then it should get back with everyone else until the end of the story.**

**Only nine chapters left to go guys, and of course, I'll do my best to make you guys love the ending. But I have a question, would you rather that I update this story every few days with longer chapters, or shorter chapters and more frequent updates until the end?**

**Cheers,**

**-Riley **

**PS – I know that I've kept all of this story in 3****rd**** person, but I felt that it had more of an impact to put it in her POV. And don't forget to check out our formspring (link is in our profile).**


	32. Big Time Reality

**Chapter Thirty-Two – Big Time Reality**

* * *

"Hey Cammie, what's wrong?" WayneWayne asked as he walked over to his girlfriend, who was sitting cross-legged on the bed in the room that she shared with Jo, the next day. "You've been really quiet all day," he sat down on the edge of the bed. "And you didn't even come to have lunch with us," he snorted. "Since the adults let us leave the room for once."

"Yeah, I just wasn't that hungry." Camille replied as she pulled her hair behind her ears, concentrating on the laptop that was resting on her thighs. "I didn't really feel like going."

"Ok, something's definitely up with you," WayneWayne took the computer form her and closed it. "What is it?" Camille stayed silent. "Don't forget that I've known you for years and I can tell whenever something is bothering you, it's always written on your face."

"No, its not!" Camille defended herself.

"Plus," WayneWayne reached down for her hand and lifted it up in front of his face. "You bite your nails when something is on your mind."

"Maybe I just broke my nails," Camille defended herself and then rolled her eyes. "Fine, well, I don't really know how to say it, so I'm just going to come out and say it." She sighed. "I don't feel like I should be on this tour anymore." WayneWayne stayed silent as he waited for her to continue. "I've been thinking about getting a ticket to go back home. I mean, I'm an actress and that's my dream, but as soon as I heard that we could go on this tour I jumped at the chance because I wanted to support our friends."

"Mhm," WayneWayne nodded, urging her to continue.

"But then I realized that I've been spending a lot of time away from doing my passion, I haven't done a audition or open casting call in a while, and the part that the Jacksons gave me on their show was a somewhat big part, but still not that big. Plus, my dad's been calling and asking when I'm gonna come back home and-"

"I know what you mean," WayneWayne broke in. "Most people, when it comes to their friends going on tour, they would go to only a few shows, not go to the same ones night after night. And by now you're probably sick of having to go to concerts."

"Exactly." Camille replied quietly.

"But you don't know who to tell BTR and DE because you're afraid that you're going to hurt their feelings," WayneWayne continued and then nodded. "Yeah, you're not the only one that feels that way, Steph, Jo, and I were talking about the same thing recently. We were thinking of going back home too. Jo and I, we really want to continue with our singing and try and get something done with that, and Steph can't really get much done except for back-stage stuff for the Jacksons, even though she's getting paid for it."

"I don't know what to do about it," Camille sighed and ran her hands over her face.

"None of us do really," WayneWayne replied. "But it's not something that is supposed to be easy, I mean, think of it this way, in the future when we're all twenty-five or so," Camille started to smile. "Yeah, I know, long stretch, But what do you think will happen? We won't be able to see each other all the time and we'll be even further along with our careers or whatever we're doing then. So there shouldn't be any hard feelings. Besides, they should all understand, they need breaks every once in a while and can probably hardly stand to be around each other at times."

"Just like how you're annoying me?" Camille teased.

"Exactly." WayneWayne replied, lightly rubbing her leg.

Camille smiled and reached over to grab her laptop again. WayneWayne just rested his arms on the bed and looked up at her, studying her face. A confused look slid onto his face as he looked at her, something that he had been doing for the past couple of days and he couldn't figure out why. Then a look of clarity replaced the confusion.

He figured it out. He finally figured it out.

It was her smile.

He was in love with her smile.

And he was in love with her.

With a sudden burst of confidence, he continued to watch her, completely unaware of the smile still gracing his lips. She shyly glanced back at him, still blushing, and slightly smiled before turning her full attention away from her laptop again.

"What is it?" she asked with a slight laugh.

"Nothing," WayneWayne shrugged. "I just realized something."

"Oh yeah, what's that?" Camille replied.

WayneWayne licked his lips nervously and then gave a shy smile. "That I'm in love with your smile," Camille beamed. "And I'm in love with you." Camille's eyes widened in shock. "I know that what I had felt about you for a while had changed, and it took me until just this moment for me to realize that I was, _am_, in love with you."

Camille opened and closed her mouth a few times as she tried to get her voice back. '_He loves me?_' she thought to herself. '_I can't believe…he feels the same way….wow…_' Camille started to smile and the scared look in WayneWayne's eyes started to fade.

"I…love you too." She admitted.

WayneWayne grinned and leaned forward, giving her a sweet kiss.

* * *

"Jo, could you get something for me?" James asked as he looked up from the book that he was reading. He and Jo were sitting on the balcony of the hotel room, relaxing, reading, and just enjoying each other's company.

"Yeah, what is it?" Jo asked as she lifted her head, closing her book in her lap.

"Could you get me a glass of water or something?" James replied.

Jo frowned, shielding her eyes from the sun as she looked over at her boyfriend. "Why can't you just get it? You have a free hand."

"Yeah, well," James lifted his left hand and shook it in the air. "It's my weaker hand and I don't want to risk dropping my glass and getting water in my cast or accidentally hitting myself in the face or something." He went back to his book. "Thanks."

Jo crossed her arms over her chest and set her jaw, trying to keep down the anger that she was feeling, but it kept coming up and it burst before she knew it. She closed her book and slammed it onto the floor of the balcony. "Stop- being so goddamn lazy and get your own drink!"

"Why are you so mad at me?" James asked, looking up at her in confusion.

"Just answer me one question," Jo demanded, her lips pursing and her face revealing the disappointed look she'd been trying to conceal for a while.

"What?" James asked her, somewhere between apologetic and on the brink of defensive.

"Why did you pretend to be someone you're not?" she asked. It was an accusation of sorts, and when she spoke, she turned to face him, meeting his eyes with a stony glare.

James sucked in a breath. "W-what?"

Jo shook her head. "You're impossible! You don't even understand why I'm mad." She balled her hands into fists. "I can't…" she trailed off.

James looked up and met her now faltering gaze. "You can't what?"

"Believe you," she replied, her voice softening.

"You never could," James replied with a half smile that faded quickly. "And I thought you liked that about me. Along with my handsomely good looks-"

"What did you expect?" Jo retorted interrupting him, her ferocity taking over her small body. "You always confuse me," she continued. "Always. And you always have an explanation, and you always convinced me to shrug it off."

James interrupted. "You always told me everything was fine. Everything was always 'fine' according to you."

"James," Jo ran her fingers through her hair. "Get a reality check, ok? I'm tired of you acting like you can't do anything because of that stupid cast!" She gestured to it violently. "And _please_ stop acting like the world revolves around you!"

"WHAT?" James screamed, exasperated, looking to Jo for an explanation.

Jo sniffed, impatient. "You're still playing the clueless card, I see."

James tilted his head back and looked at the ceiling, as though searching for a teleprompter in the faded tiles that would tell him just the right thing to say. "You're reading too much into things, Joey," he said, his voice low as he used his old pet name for her.

Jo's eyes narrowed. "No, I'm not." She replied heatedly, turning away. "In this whole relationship you've always been on the forefront about it. Everything is always about you."

James scowled and walked around her so that he was once again in her line of vision. "What did I ever do to make you say that? Explain this to me!"

"Gosh," Jo said in disbelief, "you must really think I'm stupid."

"You're proving it, if you are," James countered.

Jo groaned. "All I ever hear from you is 'a concert' this, and 'a show' that, and 'Cuda products' this and 'The Face' that."

James was shocked. "Is that all?" he asked, hardly able to reply.

"Nowhere near it," Jo answered, truthfully.

"Then what else is there?" James asked.

Jo sighed. "To make it short, I'm feeling like I'm not even in this relationship."

James shook his head and then spoke. "Okay- so you're saying you've never been self-conscious about something? You've never had low self-esteem? I never wanted to change you or jeopardize your happiness. But I guess that doesn't matter now, because you'll only believe what you want to."

Jo looked up at him as he hair blew around her face. She walked over to him. She looked up at him, searching his face for the answers she'd been looking for throughout the past month. She took a step closer and in the spur of the moment, she hugged him.

"Because we have natural chemistry."

Her answer hung in the air for a few seconds and they just looked at each other. She sighed, looked at her shoes, and then back up at him.

He leaned towards her and gave her a gentle kiss.

Jo was the first to pull away from the kiss. "We should probably just break up." She muttered, rubbing her arm. "It would be easier for us when we go and do our own things after this tour is over." She took a deep breath and looked up at James confidently. "You should just forget about me."

James shook his head. "That's just it, Jo. I don't think I could forget you even if I wanted to." He admitted. "I know that I've been feeling sorry for myself because I broke my arm," he felt stupid as he said it out loud. "And that was really dumb. And I'm sorry that I brought you out here and you didn't get much time to work on your own music."

Jo just listened quietly.

"And if you feel like you're being ignored, just tell me," James reached out and lightly rubbed Jo's cheek, a small blue spot of the bruise that was left when she got punched. "I care about you too much for you to feel like you shouldn't be in this relationship or to be like you shouldn't be here with the rest of us." He smiled. "Even if you want to be alone by yourself for a while, just tell me. Because the last thing that I want is for us to break up because of something that can easily be fixed."

Jo smiled, stepped forward, and wrapped her arms around her boyfriend again.

* * *

**A/: So with James' personality there was going to have to be some trouble in paradise with him and Jo eventually. I hope you guys also liked the WayneWaynexCamille moment I put in here. Don't you just love the best friends turn boyfriend-girlfriend thing? I know I do! But the feeling that he, Camille, and Jo, and Stephanie are feeling I thought would be something that they could have been feeling for a while. Kind of like being put in the shadow of their friends, putting their jobs on pause. So I wanted to explore with that idea.**

**This was a shorter chapter than the others because it was kind of like a filler chapter, but the next few ones are gonna be short like this while the last three/four chapters of the story are going to be really long to make up for it. I'll update soon.**

**Wow, the adults weren't in this chapter either. DARN IT! Ok, the next chapter is going to focus on the adults! I swear! *Pinkie Promise*. And if I don't have the next chapter with them…then…you guys can stop reading (which I hope you don't do) Along with that, the next chapters have to do with the concerts and their music again. :D And because you guys said that you wanted it to have shorter chapters with more frequent updates, here you go!  
**

**Cheers,**

**-Riley**


	33. Big Time Blindsided

**Chapter Thirty-Three – Big Time Blindsided**

* * *

Ronan almost passed out when he saw it.

He paused to stare at the object of his scrutiny for several minutes. He continued to stare at it as he slowly crouched at the knees to get a better look, to make sure that what he was seeing was real. It was a pregnancy test. Partially covered by a piece of paper, but the pink and white box was indistinguishable. An opened and obviously _used _one since there was nothing actually _in_ the box, plus it was in the trashcan. He bent down to pick the empty box up just to be sure, and just like he suspected, it was empty. There was nothing but the instructions inside. God only knew where the actual test was now.

_What the hell?_ Was his first thought as he stared at the First Response® box, holding it at arm's length, as if he was afraid that it would give him some kind of disease if he held it any closer.

Though, once he got over the initial shock of seeing the test in the first place, he wondered who the hell needed the damn thing.

"No." he whispered after a moment of quiet contemplation.

It couldn't be.

"Ronan, we gotta get going!" Kelly called from the front door of the suite. "There's only so much time we have before the concert starts you know." He could almost see her roll her eyes even though he couldn't see her. "And if that extra inhaler isn't in the bathroom then I have no idea where Patrick could have possibly put it."

"Be there in a minute!" Ronan called back, still staring at the First Response® box in his hand. After thinking about it a few minutes more, he flattened the box and stuffed it into the pocket of his jeans before turning and leaving the bathroom, shutting the lights off as he went.

* * *

"Come on! Come on! Come on!" Ronan pushed Kelly, Gustavo, and Kacy into Big Time Rush's dressing room as the kids were eating dinner and slammed and locked the door shut behind him before turning around and holding his back against the door, his eyes wild as he looked around the room.

"Ronan, are you ok?" Gustavo asked as he looked at him oddly, taking a water bottle off of the coffee table and unscrewing the top. "You're acting even crazier that you usually are." At that, Kacy reached out and placed a hand on Ronan's forehead.

"You're not warm." She commented and then turned to Kelly. "Was he acting this way when you guys were back at the hotel?"

"I hadn't noticed," Kelly replied with a shrug. "He was quiet on te3h way up." She crossed her arms over her chest and walked up to Ronan, waving a hand in his face. "Hey, what's up with you?"

"Someone is pregnant!" he blurted out suddenly, before he could really stop himself.

Gustavo choked on the sip of water he had just taken, spitting it all over the floor, Kelly dropped her Palm Pilot and winced as it clattered noisily against the ground, and Kacy's mouth dropped open and her eyes widened.

"What?" was the unison response he got.

"You heard me, I found _this_" he took the flattened box out of his pocket and held it up for the three other adults to see, "in the bathroom of the girls' suite today, since Patrick thought he might have left his inhaler in there room while they were grounded… and I want to know who the hell it was for!" He cried.

"Don't you think you're going a little overboard there?" Kelly asked as she raised her eyebrows. "I mean, the thing that you should be the most worried about is what the outcome of the test actually was."

"No, what _I'm_ worried about is that one of my daughters is out there possibly pregnant." Ronan shot back, sounding slightly sarcastic.

"How do you know that it's your daughters?" Kacy asked as she crossed her arms over her chest, mimicking Kelly. "I mean, it could be Jo, Camille, or Stephanie. I know that Logan and Kendall wouldn't do that, Logan because he's, well, too much of a gentleman, and Kendall because he knows that I would kill him and make sure that no one is able to find his body." She finished her statement, giving a sweet smile.

"Oh, here's a stupid idea," Gustavo recovered from hacking his lungs out. "You could just _ask_ them."

"Before you do that," Kacy held up a hand in Gustavo's face. "Let me just bring _another _option to the surface, if one of them is or is not pregnant as the case may be, that means that the rest of them know who is or isn't pregnant." Kelly, Gustavo, and Ronan slowly nodded. "So the way I see it, the best way to go about this is to get everyone together and ask then, instead of scaring them to death with accusations and interrogations."

"Really?" Gustavo looked at her as he made a face. "Because I think that accusing and interrogating sounds more fun."

"I agree with Gustavo." Ronan agreed as he raised a hand into the air.

"You guys are such _guys_," Kelly stated as she rolled her eyes, but then paused when she turned to Kacy. "So, how is it that you aren't freaking out as much as Ronan is?"

"Because, Kelly, it hasn't really hit me yet that one of the young girls that we're looking after," Kacy explained. "With their parents' consent and trust of course," she added. "Could quite possibly be pregnant. Right now, I'm pretending that Ronan just said that the wind blew outside, because I would think about that, and then end up being completely horrified."

"So in other words, your Mama Bear instincts are in hibernation?" Kelly asked, laughing a little.

"For now." Kacy agreed with a nod.

"So how about we do this," Gustavo cleared his throat and put down the water bottle so hard the water splashes out. "Ronan and I will take the guys and torture them until they cry, and then you can take the girls and ask them in any way that you want to. How's that?"

"I'm all for it!" Ronan agreed.

Kelly sighed loudly. "Whatever, I know that somehow you're going to completely screw this up, so let's just get it over with as it is." She looked around and then picked her Palm Pilot off of the ground. "If I'm not mistaken all of them should be eating dinner right now, so if you want to cause them complete fear before they go onstage, then go right ahead." She waved an arm towards the door.

"Thank you!" Ronan and Gustavo cried and then the two of them forced open the door and raced out of the room.

Kacy rolled her eyes and she and Kelly followed the two men out of the room, but going slower than Ronan and Gustavo. By the time that the two women had gotten to the dining room, the kids were sitting at the table, looking up at the two adult men, their faces holding a mixture of horror and fear.

"WHICH OF YOU DOGS WHERE STUPID ENOUGH TO GO AND THROW YOUR FAME AND FUTURE AWAY?" Gustavo was shouting, turning to Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and James. "I MEAN, GOING AND DOING…THAT IS PERFECTLY FINE, BUT-"

"But, what Gustavo is trying to get to in the worst way possible," Ronan elbowed the large man aside and fixed the four boys with a hard stare. "Is that whatever you boys do in your personal lives is fine," he then turned to Kendall and Logan. "As soon as you bring my daughters into it, that's where you draw the line."

"Does this have to do with all of the stupid things that we have been doing around the hotel?" Kendall asked slowly, and then jumped with fear when Ronan slapped his hands onto the table and leaned close to his face, demanding what he meant. "I just meant, like, throwing water balloons off of balconies, and locking people in their rooms and stuff."

"At the risk of being murdered," WayneWayne took the chance to speak up. "What's going on?

Sydney grabbed his cup of milk and brought it to his mouth as he watched Ronan and Gustavo scream at the older teens, somewhat amused himself. To him, it was obvious as to why they were freaking out at the guys, while Kelly and Kacy had gone over to the girls and were trying to talk to them as well.

_I mean, how many different things that have happened in the past few days could they possibly get mad at?_ Sydney rolled his eyes a little as he put the cup back down on the table, wiping his milk mustache off of his arm. _If they're over the whole lying to go to the party thing, there's only one thing that they could potentially be mad at, and it's the large elephant in the middle of the room. _Sydney cleared his throat loudly to get the adults' attention. He looked over at Carlos and Stephanie for a second, silently apologizing before turning to his dad.

"Are you referring to a pregnancy test?" He asked innocently. Dumbfounded, Ronan and Gustavo nodded. "Well you don't really have anything to worry about, the test came out negative." He then gave a half smile. "Oh and it wasn't Ri-Ri's or Rhu-Rhu's so you don't have to blow a blood vessel over that either."

"And how do you know that, Syd?" Kelly asked quietly.

"Because it was mine," Stephanie spoke up, looking up towards the adults, and then looking away, ashamed. "Carlos and I…well, we've been," she cleared her throat, scratching her neck. "Sleeping together, and we've used protection all except once and my period has been kind of late, so I wanted to be sure." She finished her sentence in a mumble.

"I'm just going to….leave." Patrick stated, jumping up from the table. He grabbed onto Sydney's hand and dragged him out of his chair as Noah and Katie got up from their seats and left the room as well. "Nice knowing you." He called over his shoulder.

"Listen," Kacy took up the conversation. "While having…sex, is a natural part of life, it would probably be better if you make sure that you use protection all the time, or just wait so you don't have to worry about it, when you guys are already in a stressful situation."

"But you have to see where we're coming from," Carlos spoke up, defending his girlfriend. "I mean, sure, we're all stressed out and tired, but you have to remember that we're just teenagers and we don't' really have much time to spend with each other alone, since we're always around someone else."

"Be that as it may, right now, it would be better if you focused on your music for the rest of the tour." Ronan sounded weary as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, suddenly looking tired. "You aren't grounded anymore, but you can't lose focus on what you are out here for. And you've only got, like, a week and a half left of this tour and you all need to be on your toes."

"Dad are you, ok?" Rhuben asked as she looked at her father with narrowed eyes.

"I'm fine," he replied unconvincingly. "Why?"

"Well first off, we're surprised that you would be stupid enough to think that _we're _stupid enough to have sex," Riley commented frankly. "But other than that, you just seem tired."

"I _am_ tired." Ronan agreed. "I'm tired of everything." He looked at his watch. "Sorry for interrupting you, you all can go back to your dinner." He turned and left the dining room the same way that Patrick, Noah, Sydney, and Katie had left, running his hands over his face.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Ronan looked down at to see Kacy walking next to him, looking at him curiously, although she held a look of something that he couldn't place in her eyes.

"Yeah," he replied slowly. "But I'm not sure if you're going to like it."

"Funny, because I was going to say the same thing to you." Kacy commented.

Ronan stopped quickly a few feet away from the stage door and turned and looked at Kacy closely. Before running his hand over his face again. "Something tells me that we're thinking the same thing." He commented and then spoke slowly. "Thinking that right now we should be focusing on our kids and their tour than each other."

"Exactly," Kacy nodded in reply, giving a small smile. "I mean, it's like Carlos said, because we're on this tour and everyone is so stressed, there's not much time that we can, or anyone for that matter, can spend alone."

"And I don't want you to have to feel like I'm slighting you just because I'm doing my job." Ronan agreed.

"Which is fine," Kacy stated with a nod and then let out a sight and scratched her forehead. "Which is exactly what Kevin used to say, but at least I know that you're not lying to me."

"I would never lie to you." Ronan replied as he shook his head. "Not consciously, anyway."

"Thanks for that," Kacy replied with a half smile. "So for the time being-"

"We'll just go back to being friends." Ronan agreed and then gave a genuine smile. "But then as soon as the tour is over…" he shrugged. "Well, we can talk about it then."

Kacy smiled back.

* * *

**A/N: (For whatever reason, I don't really like the way that I wrote this chapter, I might go back and edit it later, but if you guys liked it, then I'll leave it.) There you go the adults-centered chapter. Now basically until the end of the story unanswered questions will be answers (if I remember what those are) and loose ends will be tied up. So this chapter didn't have to do with music, but the next ones until the end do, since this is basically what the story is about, music and their friendship. **

**Now, for Ronan and Kacy breaking up, as opposed to other people breaking up, their breakup is mutual and they still have feelings for each other as well as their friendship with each other. If you didn't understand why they broke up, it's because they both feel that since Ronan is working on their concerts and the possibility of them going on breaks/going back to Australia, he wouldn't be giving Kacy the amount of attention that she deserved, so they decided to break it off for the time being. I hope you guys aren't too upset.**

**Anything that you guys would like to see before the story ends?**

**Only 7 more chapters to go and since you guys wanted shorter chapters with more frequent updates, keep your eyes peeled.**

**Cheers,**

**-Riley**


	34. Big Time Confessions

**Chapter Thirty Four – Big Time Confessions**

* * *

"Dad, what's with that creepy smile on your face?" Rhuben asked as she looked at her father over the top of her magazine.

They were all on the bus for the last week of the tour, heading out towards Perth, Australia. The Jacksons were excited because they loved Perth almost as much as they loved their hometown, and James was excited because he had heard that the surf there was amazing. But unknown to everyone, because they wouldn't say it out loud, everyone was glad that the tour was almost over so they could go home. Not that they weren't having fun, but being so far away from home as well as having work on their music so much was making them a little tired of it.

Ronan stopped and turned to his daughters, a large grin on his face and chuckling a little bit. "Well, really, that depends." He replied slowly as he gauged their expressions. "Would you mind at all if I went and harassed your boyfriends for a minute?"

"That depends," Riley replied, repeating what her father had just said. She then grinned evilly. "Can we watch?"

"Yes, but you have to go along with everything that I say." Ronan replied with a nod.

"Then we're in." Rhuben smiled and the two got off of the couch and moved next to their father. "But first," she lowered her voice a little bit. "Um, with your breaking up with Mama Knight," she scratched the back of her neck. "It wasn't our fault was it?"

"Because if it was, we'll apologize for whatever we did." Riley added quickly.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Rona waved his hands, trying to get his daughters to calm down. "Who gave you that idea?"

"Syd." Riley and Rhuben replied in unison.

Ronan chuckled as he scratched his forehead. "Do you two realize that you just got played by a 10 year old?" He laughed a little harder as dumbstruck looks appeared on the girl's faces. "Think about it later, right now, I want to have some fun." Ronan then turned on his heels and led the way over to the TV room where Kendall, James, Logan, and Carlos were playing a video game. "James, Carlos, I need to talk to Kendall and Logan for a minute." Ronan stated as sternly as possible.

They must have gotten the hint, for James and Carlos quickly paused the game and hurried out of the sitting area, not looking back.

"What's up, Ronan?" Kendall asked slowly, looking over to Riley, who just bit her lower lip and shrugged, looking apologetic.

"Yeah, is something wro-"Ronan cut Logan off with a sharp glance.

"That's Mr. McGuire to the two of you!" He snapped and then took a deep breath, holdings his hands behind his back. "Now, I'm a patient guy, so I wasn't that upset when Carlos and Stephanie admitted that they were just covering for one of you two."

"What?" Kendall and Logan screeched in unison, their eyes growing wide, showing massive amounts of fear.

"I'll just ask you this in a way that's easy for you to understand," the patient look slid off of Rona's face and a furious one replaced it. "Which one of you slept with my daughter? And if you don't tell me the truth, I'll find out which of you was lying."

"It was him!" Kendall pointed over at Logan, whose mouth dropped open even further from shock.

"What?" Logan cried again.

Kendall ignored him and started to plead his case. "I mean, who do you think was the one that was trying to seduce Rhu and even asked my mom for help?" He started to laugh nervously as he scooted away from Logan as far as the couch would let him. "Me, I've just been minding my own business, not pressuring anyone into anything. I mean, what did you think I was thinking about the whole time that we were broken up? I was miserable and I wanted was her back, I didn't think about make-up sex or anything." He paused. "Ok, the thought _did _cross my mind for a minute, but that's it. Just a thought. I'm not going to have sex until me and whoever I end up doing it with, are ready."

Ronan pulled down the corner of his mouth and then turned his steely gaze to Logan, who squeaked with fear. "I, you, uh, we, he, I-" Logan started to stammer, babbling rapidly as he tried to form coherent words to prove himself innocent. "Well, I do admit to that, but it's not what you think, really, it's not." Ronan cocked an eyebrow. "Ok, maybe it is. But, see, I wasn't planning on _seducing her_, seducing her. Really. Honest. What I wanted was-"

"Oh, I _know_ what it is that you wanted." Ronan interrupted and Logan immediately clammed up. He raised a hand to his chin. "Now, do I want to kill you fast or slow? Either way I don't want a lot of blood around-"

"Please don't kill us!" Logan cried, bringing his hands together in a prayer motion.

"Us?" Kendall cried, shooting a betrayed glare at his friend.

"We swear we didn't do anything!" Logan continued to plead.

Rhuben suddenly burst out laughing. "Sorry dad, I couldn't take it anymore." She apologized as she continued to laugh. "But this is just too funny, plus I think that Logie is going to die from a heart-attack if we don't tell them that it was all a joke."

"Really?" Ronan and Riley started to laugh as well. "I think I could have gone for another five minutes are so."

"This was a joke?" Kendall asked, blinking rapidly, a hand over his heart. "You knew all along that we didn't…" he paused, searching for the word. "Touch them."

"Yeah," Ronan admitted, gleefully nodding as he shoved his hands into his jeans pockets. "I had thought, at first when I had found the pregnancy test box that one of those two would have bought it, but then I realized that they're way too smart to have sex when they weren't ready as well as not being stupid enough to do it when they're so young." He shrugged, his smile never leaving his face. "But I figured to have some fun with it anyway as a warning that if you do anything stupid, I'll hurt you." He paused for a second. "And you won't have just me to worry about you, you'll have their brothers as well as Kacy on your butts, got me?"

Kendall and Logan nodded, stunned into silence.

"Good," Ronan smiled. "See you guys later, we'll be in Perth soon."

He turned on his heel and left the sitting area. "Well, now that my special dose of laughter has been fulfilled, I'm going to back to doing nothing." Rhuben smirked and followed her father out of the TV area.

"You guys as _so_ not funny." Logan pouted as Riley chuckled and sat down on the couch next to Kendall, leaning into his side.

"Really, I think that it was hysterical." Riley replied with a smirk.

"Yeah, yeah…" Logan rolled his eyes again and looked over at Kendall and Riley with a small smile on his face. Riley looked back at him and in her eyes, he could tell that she wanted to tell Kendall something, he had a food guess what it was, and knew that it was a good time for them to have alone. "I'm going to see where James and Carlos ran off to." He announced and left the two alone.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack there," Kendall commented after a minute, putting his arm around Riley's shoulders, smiling as she grabbed his hand in both of hers, pulling his arm around her tighter. "Although, I knew that there had to be some sort of mistake since I hadn't touched you like that."

"I didn't think that you would fall for it," Riley admitted, still laughing a little. "But still, Ronan is a dad and he just wanted to make sure that he didn't have to worry." She took a breath. "I have something to tell you, though."

"Let me guess," Kendall smile wryly. "You're pregnant." He joked. He frowned when he didn't get a response. "I was just kidding."

"No, I'm not pregnant, but I wanted to explain something to you." Riley shifted so she was facing him completely, a serious look on her face, commanding his attention. "The reason that I've cut in the past and that I started up again recently, as well as it being one of the reasons that I got exceptionally mad at you when we were fighting…is because…" she paused and sighed again. "Is because I'm bipolar."

Kendall sucked in a breath. "Wha-"

"Let me finish." Riley interrupted him swiftly. "I was fine for a while, after the abuse started, but then I started to date a guy named Braden, the best friend of Rhuben's ex, Austen, and he basically used me for my fame. But at the time I mistook it for the fact that he actually wanted cared for me, but something about him changed and without having to go into the details about it, I ended up becoming depressed. But it was also due to the fact that I was being abused and because my parents had died so recently, so looking back at it now, it has to have been Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Anyway, I started to change, my emotions went crazy. One moment I was happy, the next sad, then angry, then just numb…depressed."

"I had racing thoughts that gave me headaches and a very short fuse. Dad…whoever, told me something was wrong with me, in probably the worst way possible, and I needed to find out what it was. He took me to a psychologist who said I was diagnosed me with Bipolar Disorder. At the time I didn't know what that was so I looked it up. Basically its massive mood swings. A person with bipolar disorder will go through episodes of mania, or highs, and at other times experience episodes of depression or lows. These aren't the normal periods of happiness and sadness that everyone experiences from time to time. Some of the symptoms for mania are racing thoughts, insomnia, decreased need for sleep, elevated mood and optimism, increased physical and mental exercise, impatience, and difficulty concentrating. Symptoms for depression include, anger, worry, anxiety, appetite loss or overeating, inability to experience pleasure, drop in grades, thoughts of suicide, and sleeping too much or not sleeping enough."

"I basically experienced and am still experiencing those symptoms, but that's usually when I don't take my medication for it for an extended period of time." Riley scratched the back of her neck. "I just wanted you to know, so if I ever did anything out of the ordinary, that you would know why and not hold it against me." She looked Kendall in the eyes. "Plus, I already told Logan, to get it off my chest, and he's been pressuring me to tell you."

"Well, I'm glad you did tell me." Kendall replied gently.

"And?" Riley pressed.

"What do you want me to say?" Kendall looked confused. "I mean, I'm going to help you through it whenever you need me to help you. It's not like I'm going to look at you in any different way just because I know that something is bothering you." He held her face in his hands. "You promised me to help me whenever I started to think badly about myself or my dad and I promised to help you and your brothers and sisters get rid of your dad. Now that I've done that, I promise to be there for you whenever you need me."

"Seriously," Riley gave a half-smile. "You gotta lay off the speeches and just be direct."

"I love you." Kendall stated.

Riley's smile grew bigger. "I love you, too."

* * *

"Seriously, Pat, you're just going to drive yourself crazy if you don't tell her how you feel." Katie commented as she scratched her forehead, looking over at the blonde haired boy as he continued to cross his legs over and over again, shifting his long frame in the low hanging bunk bed. "I mean, you're already driving me crazy so that's not saying much.

"I can't tell her," Patrick replied as he turned back to Katie, frowning, looking frustrated. "I mean, she's with James-"

"And she's three years older than you." Noah broke into the conversation, tapping a pen against his teeth. "So that's not going to help much."

"So there's not much that I can do about that." Patrick ignored his brother.

"Tell her!" Noah reiterated, lowering his voice just in case anyone was listening. "I mean, you've liked Jo for a while, and so what if nothing happens between the two of you because she is basically in love with James. It will just make her that much of a better friend to you."

"I don't know," Patrick bit his thumbnail as he stretched out on his bunk bed, being careful of not hitting his head. "She could also laugh in my face and be disgusted by me."

"You're reaching." Katie commented and then sighed heavily as she moved her laptop off of her lap and closed it gently. "Why are you freaking out about this anyway?"

"Well," Patrick shrugged. "I mean, the tour is almost over, and we don't have much time left until we-"Noah made a loud coughing sound and Patrick immediately clammed up for a second before looking over at Katie again. "And part of me is telling me to stop being a wimp and just get it over with."

"So listen to that part." Noah replied and then stared his twin straight in the eyes. "You're my twin and I want you to be happy." He smirked. "Plus, I can feel everything that you feel and your massive nervousness is making my stomach hurt and I would feel tons better if you would stop being such a drongo and get it over with."

"Wow, way to be more confident." Katie teased, causing Noah to smile a little.

"Trust me, it's just an act." Patrick replied, to which he shot Noah the finger after Noah gave it to him first. He let out a moan of frustration, tilting his head back, before getting up. "Fine, I'll go tell her now." He turned and looked at Katie and Noah with raised eyebrows. "And I'm probably right in assuming that you guys are going to follow me and eavesdrop."

"We wouldn't be ourselves if we didn't." Katie replied, matter-of-fact.

Patrick laughed hollowly and then left the bunk area before going upstairs to find Jo, when he did he asked if he could talk to her and she happily ditched the board game that she was playing to talk to him.

"So, you said you wanted to talk to me. What about?" Jo inquired.

"Well, a few things really." Patrick started slowly, feeling himself chickening out as he said so. "There have been some things on my mind for quite some time now. I just haven't been able to talk about them."

"What's on your mind?" Jo asked, looking concerned.

Patrick opened his mouth to tell her right then and there how he felt, but then closed his mouth and started to speak lamely. "There's this girl." He admitted. "She's so amazing. I see her everyday and she always makes my heart skip a beat. I'm so scared to tell her I like her. I'm afraid she'll freak out and run away from me. I don't want to lose her, but I also don't want to think about the 'what if's' that may follow if I keep them a secret. What do you think I should do?"

"Um. I don't know, really." Jo admitted with a little laugh as she scratched her forehead. "Do you think she is worth the risk?"

"Yes. She's always been worth it." Patrick whispered gently.

"Well, do you think you'll lose her as a friend? I mean, if she was a real friend, then she would still be friends with you." Jo tried to help.

"I know. We're great friends. "

Jo smiled and continued. "Why do you like her?"

"Well," Patrick started. He took a deep breath and continued to answer. "She's beautiful. Inside and out. Everything about her is incredible." Patrick blushed a little. "And every time I see her I think about how much I-"he stopped.

"How much you what?" Jo inquired. "Do you love her?"

"No!" Patrick replied quickly, looking panic stricken. "James would kill me!" He quickly clapped his hands over his mouth. Jo looked at him in confusion for a second and then when realization struck, she smiled and started to laugh, causing Patrick's blush to turn darker. "It's not _that_ funny." He muttered quietly, lowering his hands from his mouth, looking at his feet.

"No, I'm not laughing at you, Patrick." Jo reassured him quickly as she shook her head, hooking a chunk of her blonde hair behind her ears. "I'm laughing at the situation. I've known for a while that you've liked me." She admitted.

"What?" Patrick narrowed his eyes as he looked at her.

"Not to blow your ego or anything, but you make it _very_ obvious when you like a girl," Jo stated and then smiled. "Much like James does." She added as an afterthought. "I'm flattered that you have feelings for me, Patrick, but you and I both know that nothing is going to happen between us."

"I didn't think it would," Patrick replied with a shrug of one shoulder. "I just wanted you to know."

"Well, maybe if you were two years older-"

"And not as stupid."

"Pat, you're not stupid." Jo stated firmly. "I never thought you were. You're charismatic and that's what I like about you." She smiled again. "Trust me, there's another girl out there for you and when you find her, she'll love everything about you, just like I do." She reached out and gave Patrick a hug.

"We're still cool right?" Patrick, asked, just to make sure. His heart was still pounding in his chest, happy that he had finally admitted it, but still kind of upset that he had been rejected.

"Of course." Jo looked offended. "You thought that things would be weird just because of this?" She rolled her eyes. "You obviously don't know me that well." She smiled, causing Patrick to laugh a little. "Thanks for telling me."

"Thanks for not letting it be awkward." Patrick replied, grinning himself. "See you later." He gave a short wave and turned on his heel and quickly walked away from Jo, only going a few steps before being grabbed by Katie and Noah.

"See, you did fine." Katie thumped his back appreciatively and smiled. "Even though you did get rejected."

"Shut up." Patrick replied, although he was smiling himself.

"Hey guys," Sydney hurried over to Patrick, Noah, and Katie, Riley and Rhuben following him. His eyes were flashing brightly and his dimples were indented into his cheeks. He was even bouncing up and down out of anxiety. "Did you guys throw away those lyrics that we were writing before Ri-Ri told us to rip them up when she broke up with Kendall?"

"No," Noah shook his head. "I thought they were too good to throw away, just in case we came back to it."

"Good." Sydney's smile grew wider. "Because I had some ideas for it."

* * *

**A/N: Kind of a lame chapter, but it still ties up some things. Only 6 chapters left guys. Wow, I can't believe I'm this close to finishing the trilogy. I'll be sad when it's over, but happy of course, because I was able to give you guys stories that you all loved! :) Next chapter will be up soon and it has bits of everyone in it. This chapter and the next chapter are about 2000-3000 words, and chapters 36-40 are going to be over 5,000 to make up for it.**

**PS – Their new song is going to be debuted soon.**

**Cheers,**

**-Riley**


	35. Big Time Hanging Out

**Chapter Thirty Five – Big Time Hanging Out**

* * *

"Come on guys, this is our last day off before the tour ends," Kendall sighed as he crossed his arms over his chest. "We have to find _something_ to do."

"Then you think of something, smarty-pants!" Rhuben snapped back at him, looking up from her nails. She had been inspecting them for the past ten minutes, so bored that she couldn't think of doing anything else.

"I think that nickname applies to me." Logan replied lazily, draping an arm over his face. "Unfortunately, I'm so bored, I can't think of what to do either."

"How about we go to the beach?" James suggested.

"No." Was the unanimous answer.

"The mall?" Camille offered.

"No."

"Can we go to the park?" Sydney asked as he closed his laptop, rubbing his eyes. "Usually we go to the mall or something, but I want to go to the park." He shrugged when everyone looked at him. "I never really get my way as it is, and I just want to have a day of fun without any drama."

"I think that's a good idea, actually." Kacy commented as she walked up to the group of teenagers that were flopped all over the lobby of the last hotel that they were staying at. "I was just getting ready to ask you guys what you wanted for lunch, but I think having a picnic is a really great idea." She beamed. "Plus, it would be better than you guys lying all over the place as if you were homeless or something."

"Huh, that would explain why some lady walking by gave me an apple." WayneWayne considered as he rubbed his chin. "The park it is then, I haven't been on a playground in years."

"Then come upstairs and help me get some stuff ready, I'll tell Kelly, Gustavo, and Ronan what we're doing today." Kacy replied and everyone got off of the couches and chairs and the floor to follow her.

"You know it makes a lot of sense now," Riley mused as they went to the elevator. Kendall gave her a questioning look. "Where you got your skills to make girly lunches!" Laughing she quickly ran away as Kendall tried to hit her on the arm.

* * *

"So what do you guys want to play first?" Jo asked as she moved her hair behind her ears. Kelly, Ronan, Gustavo, and Kacy went off to find a place to put a picnic blanket and their things as the kids tried to figure out what to do. The swings and most of the playground were already being played on, but they were sure that as the day went on, they would get a chance to act like little kids before they had to leave.

"Oh, how about What Time is it Mr. Wolf, I always loved that game when I was kid!" Patrick stated as he grinned widely.

"You only liked it because you somehow weaseled your way out of being the wolf." Rhuben replied dryly and then turned to her friends as they gave her confused looks. "What Time is it Mr. Wolf is a kid's game here in Australia." She rubbed her chin. "Um, I _think_ it's like what you guys call Red Light, Green Light."

"I don't like that game," Stephanie commented as she jammed a hat onto her head. "How about we play Red Rover?"

"Not enough people," James contradicted. "Besides, if we asked the adults to play, we all _know_ that Gustavo will kill us."

"Yeah, that's true." Katie stated, shielding her face. "Well, let's pick _something_, I don't want to have to-"

"Ooh Duck, Duck, Goose!" Carlos cried as he started to jump up and down. "Let's play Duck, Duck, Goose!" He smiled and then started to bounce on his toes as everyone looked at him as if he were crazy. "I absolutely _love_ that game!"

"For whatever reason, that doesn't surprise me at all." Riley stated and then shrugged. "Fine, we'll play Duck, Duck, Goose." She reached out and slapped Logan on the back as hard as she could. "Loge here will go first."

"Ow!" Logan grabbed onto his shoulder and then frowned. "Why me?"

"Because we all know that you can't run, so we might as well get you out first." She replied and sat down as Logan rolled his eyes. He grumbled and then opened his mouth to say something, but Camille beat him to it.

"Don't forget that you have a bunch of little kids here," she spoke up. "You don't want to set a bad example."

From his spot on the grassy ground, Carlos fidgeted excitedly as Logan went around the room, getting closer and closer. He watched as Logan went around a few times, tapping each person's head, the anxiety filling everyone's face.

Duck. Duck. Duck.

Three people away. Two people away.

Carlos tensed the muscles in his legs, getting ready to run. His heart raced faster, and faster, and faster, as Logan lifted his hand above his head, and brought it down in a painfully slow pat. "Duck."

He settled is eyes on the ground, and waited patiently for Daniel, who was once again it to make his way around the circle.

Duck. Duck. Duck.

Logan had gone around four whole times now.

"LOGAN WOULD YOU JUST CHOOSE SOMEONE?" Kendall shouted in frustration. Carlos looked over at him as he started to laugh, not sure if it was his annoyance at Logan's careful and methodical choosing or if Logan was doing it on purpose just to get back at Riley for having chosen him it.

Either way, it was getting on everyone's nerves.

"Duck. Duck. Duck. Duck. Duck," Logan smirked to himself as he lightly placed a hand on WayneWayne's head. "Banana!" He cried.

"God damn it, Logan!" WayneWayne cried as he nearly jumped out of his skin, getting laughed at by everyone else. "Geez," his face was red as he re-settled into his place. "You nearly gave me a heart attack. Way to make me look like an idiot."

"Nah, you already to that by yourself," Katie teased. "No one needs to help you." Unfortunately, because of Katie's teasing, she didn't notice that she was the one that was going to be picked.

"Duck. Duck. Duck," Logan's hand hovered over her head. "GOOSE!" By the time it came down on the Katie's head, Logan had already broken into a run. Katie scrambled to her feet trying to make up for lost time as her friends screamed and laughed for Katie or Logan to run faster.

But because of Katie's false start, it wasn't surprising that she was now It.

Several rounds later, the atmosphere within the group had become more intense. Now everyone was trying their hardest to get whoever was It out as soon as possible. Especially after Sydney was tagged it by James, and all he had to do was whip his hand around and grab onto his ankle, sending James into a face-plant on the ground. But what was even better was when Stephanie was It and Jo was so sure that she was going to catch her that they had abandoned the circle and went running around the park until Stephanie dove into the empty-spot, seconds before Jo slapped her on the leg. Annoyingly enough to Carlos, he wasn't chosen it, and he was starting to feel a little discouraged by it.

_It was __my__ idea to play the game_! He grumbled to himself, letting out a large huff of hair as he wiped sweat off of his forehead. _Why can't they let me be it_? He watched as Riley went around the circle, tapping each person on the head, her hand out at arm's length, just in case someone would try and hit her on the leg like Sydney had done to James. As he watched, Carlos' stomach growled loudly. _Huh, I wonder what Mama Knight packed for-_

"GOOSE!"

Goose?

Carlos paused, unsure if it were really his turn to run. Riley was nearly half way around the circle, and there was nobody else running. Carlos sprang to his feet, mouth split into a wide, excited grin. Spurred on by the cheers of his friends, he dashed towards the gap in the in the otherwise closed off circle.

* * *

"What are they doing?" Gustavo asked as he shielded his face from the sun, looking over at the kids. "They look like they're chickens with their heads cut off."

"They're Playing Duck, Duck, Goose." Ronan replied and then snorted. "And it doesn't surprise me that you've noticed that they looked like food. That's all you ever really care about." He shrugged as Gustavo slowly turned to him and glared. "That and running the guys into the ground."

"Yeah well," Gustavo struggled to find something that he could make fun of about Ronan. "You hardly know what your kids are doing. I'm surprised you haven't been sent to jail for everything that they have ever done."

"Coming from the person whose band usually is the one that starts the trouble."

"Yeah, well-"

"Do I have to separate you two?" Kacy demanded as she placed her hands on her hips.

Gustavo looked up at her and bit his lower lip, sulking for having gotten yelled at. He looked at Ronan out of the corner of his eye and then opened his mouth as he pointed over to the man. "He started it!" he cried loudly.

"Wow, way to act your age." Ronan replied dryly.

"See, this is _exactly_ the reason why I thought that taking Gustavo to the park was a bad idea." Kelly stated as she shook her head. "Remember what happened when the guys had let him stay at the Palm Woods and he started to have _fun_?" She nodded when Ronan and Kacy made sounds that they remembered and Gustavo pouted and crossed his arms over his chest, looking away. "I wonder what mass mayhem can happen here."

"Probably run around, pushing little kids out of the way going," Ronan took a deep breath and composed himself before speaking again, sounding almost exactly like Gustavo. "Do you want to get run over? I didn't think so, so get out of my way; I was on the slide first." He let out his breath of air. "Only with a lot more yelling and shoving."

"Jerk!" Gustavo shot back.

"Would you two lay off?" Kelly let out a huff and adjusted the hat that was on her head. She tilted her head back and looked at the sky before frowning a little, lifting her head again. "Can you guys believe that it's the end of the tour already?" She asked quietly. "These past few months have gone by really fast."

"I know," Kacy agreed and smiled a little. "It will be nice to go back to the Palm Woods and to have life go back to the way it was before, but being out on the road with my son, being able to see all of his shows, it just makes me proud."

"Better get used to seeing him now," Gustavo remarked. "When we get back to LA, they're going to be working harder than ever before, because their fan base has gone up. They're going to need to make sure that everything is perfect with their singing and their dancing and-"

"And their schoolwork." Kacy cut in. Gustavo opened his mouth to respond, but she beat him to it. "Oh, trust me Gustavo, you don't want to know how upset I'll get at them _and you_ if their grades start to slip."

"Touché." He mumbled and then turned and grabbed the picnic basket. "Can we start eating now? I'm hungry."

"That's not suprising." Ronan replied.

"Hey!"

"Sorry, I had to let out one last one."

* * *

"Ok, what do you guys want to play next?" Riley asked as she jumped onto Kendall's back, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Let me just tell you, I'm getting tired of running, so any game that has to do with that, I'll give a big fat 'no'." She pulled Kendall's beanie off of his head and put it on her own. "Not after playing Amoeba tag, Alien, and Buffalo Tag. I'm wiped."

"I feel your pain." Kendall replied sarcastically as he shifted his grip to hold onto her legs more tightly.

"Hey, look, a fountain!" Katie cried, pointing. She grabbed onto Sydney's hand and the two hurried over to the fountain. "And there's money in it!" She looked around and then started to climb into the fountain.

"Uh, I think that's against the law, Katie." Logan pointed out as she started to scoop up some of the wet coins and shove them into her pockets.

"Uh, excuse me, but what have you guys done that _wasn't_ illegal?" Camille responded as she placed her hands on her hips. "Because I'm sure most of the things that you have done to Bitters can cause you guys to get some sort a restraining order."

"She's got a point." James admitted.

"That's why I try never to get into a fight with her," WayneWayne spoke up. "Because I'm usually wrong."

"Hey guys," Rhuben got Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and James' attention as she pulled her digital camera from her pocket and attached the chord to her wrist. "Go sit on the edge of the fountain and I'll take your picture. Since it's probably the last few ones I'll be able to get before we head back to the states to do our last shows in New York and California."

"Alright." Logan agreed and they went and did as they were told, putting their arms around each other and smiling brightly.

Katie caught Rhuben's eye and made a motion with her hands, and Rhuben slightly nodded back, smirking to herself, as she brought the camera up to her eye. "Ok, on three. 1…2…-"

"Aaah! Katie!"

Katie laughed as she climbed out of the fountain, hurrying to get away from the guys that she had pulled into the water. They stood up, spitting out water and gasping for air as if they were drowning. James stood up and swished his head to the side, water flying everywhere.

"You can't possibly tell me that you didn't see that coming." Katie giggled as she the guys stood up, wringing water out of their shirts.

"Plus, it should help cool you guys off." Jo added.

"You're only saying that because James' shirt is now see-through." Patrick called her out on it. Jo just smiled over at him, silently agreeing that that was the truth.

"Well, she's right," Logan confirmed. "I feel much cooler."

"Seriously, you guys are probably the easiest people to fool." Rhuben commented and motioned with her hands for them to get closer so they could take the picture. Once they had their arms around each other and were smiling brightly she finally took the pic. "This is going to go as my new laptop background." She announced with a smile.

"Yeah, yeah, now help us out." Carlos stated as he held his hands out towards his girlfriend. Stephanie rolled her eyes and moved forward, grabbing onto his hands. With a sharp tug, he pulled her into the fountain with a loud splash. Carlos burst out laughing as Stephanie resurfaced next to him. "How could you not see that coming?"

"Nah, I knew that you were going to do that." Stephanie fibbed as she pulled her hat off of her head and wrung it out.

"Make room, make room!" Sydney called before clambering into the fountain along with Katie. He grinned evilly and turned around a she kicked his foot, sending a wave of water out of the fountain and onto Patrick and Noah, who hurried into the fountain after that.

WayneWayne, Riley, Rhuben, Jo, and Camille joined everyone into the fountain and then they started screeching with laughter as they splashed each other with wave after wave of water. Their screams and laughter attracted the attention of the adults and they walked over to see what was going on.

"Hey, guys!" Kelly called with a wave, causing the teens to stop splashing water at each other.

"Do I even want to know?" Kacy asked with a laugh.

"Probably not." WayneWayne replied truthfully.

"Come on in guys," Noah waved to the adults. "The water is fine!"

"I'll do you one better," Ronan replied and turned to Rhuben. "Can I borrow your camera for a second?" Rhuben carefully pulled the strap from her wrist and handed the camera over to her father. "Thanks." He turned around and started to scan the park. "Excuse me, sir!" Ronan called to a couple that were walking hand in hand in the park. "Would you mind taking a picture of us?" Ronan hurried over to the man and handed over Rhuben's camera after he said that he would be happy to take the picture and then he went back over to the fountain. "Ok, I don't want to get wet, so the rest of us are just going to sit on the rim of the fountain."

"Good idea." Kelly agreed and carefully wiped off the side of the fountain before she, Gustavo, Ronan, and Kacy sat down.

"If any of you dogs pull me into the fountain, you're dead." Gustavo warned, looking directly at Carlos, who just smiled sweetly in reply.

"Alright, say cheese on three." Kacy announced.

The man smiled and brought the camera up to his face. "1…2…3"

"Cheese," everyone replied, mugging for the camera.

"Alright," the man pulled the camera away from his face and looked at the picture. "It came out pretty good, here you-"

!_Splash_!

"CARLOS!" Gustavo roared as he pulled himself from the fountain, Kelly, Ronan, and Kacy laughing as they stood up in the water as well, wringing out their clothes. "I'm going to get you!" He ran around the fountain, chasing after the hysterically laughing boy.

"Do you think we should go after him?" Kendall asked as he pulled himself from the fountain and flopped onto the ground, holding his stomach from laughing so hard. He smiled as Riley took a picture of him.

"Nah, I think it's better if we let him get killed." Rhuben remarked and laughed as Logan grabbed her into a hug, splashing water in her face.

"Can we eat now?" Patrick asked and then watched as Carlos and Gustavo ran by again. He turned to his dad, as if he didn't see them running by. "So, can we?"

* * *

**A/N: So for the most part, this was a pretty random chapter. But with the BTR guys, it wouldn't surprise me if they have random conversations and do random things from time to time, so I tried to make it as funny as possible. I hope that you guys enjoyed it and I'll update again soon.**

**If you want to see the pictures that I'm talking about, go here: http:/fav. me/d3976j8 (but without the spaces) and here: http:/tinypic. com/r/2dj8f9d/7 (again, without the spaces.)**

**Oh and to bballgirl22 for the last chapter – a new song in the story, not in real life.**

**Cheers,**

**-Riley**


	36. Big Time Maxin' and Relaxin'

**Chapter Thirty Six – Big Time Maxin' and (not so much) Relaxin'**

* * *

"Guys, guys, I just had a _brilliant_ idea!" Rhuben cried as she kicked open the door to the dance studio that Big Time Rush was practicing in. They were sitting on the ground, stretching and when Rhuben hurried in excitedly, her siblings following her with grins on their faces; they looked at each other seconds before jumping up and running.

"Bye!" They called in unison, only stopping when Sydney called after them.

"Wait, where are you going?" he asked, confused.

"Every time you, you, you, you, and _especially_ you," James pointed from Sydney, to Noah, to Patrick, to Rhuben, and then to Riley. "Have an idea; it's pretty much a good way for us to get in trouble. So I figured that the best way to get around it is if we run away."

"Haha." Riley rolled her eyes.

"Where's Gustavo?" Patrick asked, moving from where he was cowering behind Noah. He slowly peeked out before moving completely from behind his brother, who gave him the stink-eye. "I'm surprised he's not yelling at you guys." He scratched his eyebrow. "Come to think of it, I'm surprised we didn't hear him coming from the hotel."

"He said that he had some stuff to take care of and he'll be here as soon as he can." Carlos replied as he started to stretch his arms. "Which I'm guessing is what brought you guys by." He added and then turned to Rhuben, sighing heavily. "So how much pain am I going to be in today?"

"A lot more if you keep mouthing off," Rhuben replied and then half-smiled as she placed her hands on her hips. "So, do you guys want to hear my brilliant idea?"

"Well, see, that depends really." Kendall stated as he rubbed his chin. "Is it anything that can potentially hurt us?"

"No." Rhuben replied, shaking her head.

"What about hurt someone else?" Logan asked, getting in on the jokes."

"No." Rhuben was starting to sound impatient.

"Animals?" James guessed.

"No."

"Does it have anything to do with food?" Carlos asked hopefully.

"_No!"_

"What about-"

"WOULD YOU PUT A LID ON IT?" Riley shouted at the same time that Rhuben yelled. "WILL YOU IDIOTS JUST SHUT UP?" The only difference between the two was that Riley opted to scream the words as loud as she could, while Rhuben yelled the words speaking really fast. They blinked and turned to each other, realizing that they had just said something at the same time and looked confused. "What did you say?" they asked in unison. "I said…" They paused, not hearing what each other said. "What?"

Patrick, Noah, and Sydney started to laugh along with their sisters as Big Time Rush stared at the two of them showing mixture of fear and amusement. Fear; because Riley had been good with holding down her temper around them and she had just completely blown up at them while Rhuben had yelled while giving them a death glare. Then they were amused because they had never heard the two of them, or Patrick and Noah, speak in unison for a while.

"At the risk of being beat up beyond recognition, what idea do you have?" James asked, slowly untangling himself from his friends.

"Tell them!" Sydney cried as he poked Rhuben in the side, grinning happily. "Tell them! Tell them! Tell them!"

"Relax, I am." Rhuben smiled and put an arm around her brother. "Anyway, my great idea, for the opening of the show, why don't we do…" she paused for dramatic effect. "A mash-up of one of our songs."

"You mean like, take a part of your song and a part of our song and sing them together?" Kendall asked, as he raised his eyebrows. He then smiled over at her. "Someone's been watching a little too much Glee."

"I've only seen like one episode and that's only because of Kevin McHale." Rhuben defended herself quickly. "Anyway, don't you think that it's a great idea?"

"We were thinking that the song that we could do is Eat You Up, one of our songs that we dance to, because this performance of ours is mostly when we're on our instruments." Noah added. He then raised his eyebrows himself. "We were thinking of what song of yours to do, but the decision is ultimately yours."

"THAT SOUNDS LIKE-"The Jacksons whirled around and backed up against Big Time Rush when Gustavo entered the room behind them, glaring at the five of them. Sydney gulped loudly and then moved behind Patrick, who, once again, was hiding behind Noah. Gustavo scanned everyone's faces and then smiled. "A _really _good idea." He finally finished. "No, seriously," he added when the friends looked at him skeptically. "It's a good idea, and I'm sure that no one has done it before at a concert, so you'll be sure to get a lot of internet hits." He turned to Big Time Rush. "What song were you thinking of putting with it?"

"We haven't decided yet," Logan replied and then looked thoughtful. "Come to think of it, we haven't heard your song yet."

"It's kind of new, that's why." Patrick replied as his chest swelled with pride. "We're not going to show the song until tonight, but it has a really good beat for you guys to mix one of your faster songs into." Sydney reached over and poked him in the stomach, causing him to expel the air that he was holding. "It sounds like this." Patrick though for a second and then started to beat-box the beat of the song as Noah overlaid it with some beat-boxing of his own. "Or something like that." He stated and wiped spit off of his lip."

"Big Time Rush, Famous, Any Kind of Guy, and This is Our Someday can be ones that can fall over it." Gustavo commented. "Anyway, you guys better get to work or you're not going to be ready for your dress-rehearsal later tonight for the concert tomorrow."

"Gustavo, something's different about you, today." Kendall commented as he looked at his music producer. "You seem a little more…" he waved a hand as if waiting for the word to come to him. "Guys, help me out." He stated when he couldn't think of the word."

"Nice." James supplied.

"Supportive." Logan added.

"Like you're _not_ going to scream our heads off." Carlos added.

That was true, for whatever reason, Gustavo Rocque seemed to be almost downright giddy and that was _definitely_ not like him at all. Stomping, screaming, and threatening to kill people, that was definitely Gustavo. But standing here and encouraging them and agreeing with ideas that they had, that was not Gustavo. It was then that Carlos realized that Kelly wasn't there. Since it was Carlos, his mind started to whirl with different ideas of what Gustavo could have done to her to get her away from them, because Kelly was _always_ around when the guys were working. Especially since she was the one that helped the guys and Gustavo keep from arguing.

"What did you do with Kelly?" he asked as he pointed an accusing finger to Gustavo. "Did you kill her?"

"Do you _want _me to go to jail?" Gustavo shot back, looking offended.

"Well, that depends really." Riley replied honestly. "'Cause there are times where you can be a huge jerk and are very unreasonable, but then again there are times where-"

"Landy, that was a rhetorical question." Logan whispered into her ear.

"Oh."

"Kelly is working on something that I know that you guys are going to love." Gustavo replied and rubbed his hands together eagerly. "That will show Griffin not to worry about me when I'm in another country."

Kendall rolled his eyes. That explained it, Gustavo _always_ got crazy whenever his boss, Arthur Griffin called or stopped by his office to talk about something. Usually it ended up in disaster and that's why Gustavo hated him so much. But still, there were times where he had a good idea, but went about it the wrong way, causing a sort of stand-off between him and Kelly and Gustavo. If you add in the fact that he could fire the two of them whenever he wanted, it gave them reason to freak out whenever he called.

"Is Ronan helping her too?" Noah asked, moving his hair from his face. "We didn't see him when we got up this morning."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Gustavo waved a hand. "Now get to work!"

"Touchy." Rhuben pulled her hair into a ponytail and faced her friends and siblings. "Alright guys, let's get to work so we don't completely bomb tomorrow. We're going to start with the mash-up as I've already through of the footwork that can go for it, with a little help from Noah and Sydney." She added, flashing her brother a smile.

"A _little _help?" Patrick prompted, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Ok a _lot_ of help," Rhuben corrected herself. As she walked by her brother to move to the center of the room, she lifted her foot and twisted it so she kicked him in the butt and kept going as if she didn't even move. "But still, I was the one that put it all together. So, everyone get into a line behind me, I need to figure out how I'm going to space all of you."

Kendall, Logan, Carlos, James, Riley, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney did as they were told and moved into a line behind her. Rhuben hummed to herself as she tapped her chin, looking back and forth between all of them. "Actually, Syd, I think this would be a good song for you to be front and center." She stated and motioned for him to move forward and stand next to her. Sydney beamed and moved over to his spot as Patrick muttered something under his breath. "What was that?" Rhuben asked him sharply.

"Nothing." He replied giving his easy going, crooked smile.

"I thought so." Rhuben replied slowly. "The way I see it, it would be better if we went in height order, so since me and Riles are, annoyingly enough, shorter than Patrick and Noah, it will be our regular 'V' formation, but with Patrick and Noah in the back, when we start on the stage. "As she said this, her siblings moved into their spots." Rhuben then backed up a few steps and looked over at the guys. "Ok, then Kendall and Carlos move over to this side and James and Logan over there." She motioned for them to move and they did so, then she nodded in approval. "Ok, that's the formation that we're going to be in when everyone is onstage together. The only difference is that BTR will be using hand-mics while we'll be using head-mics so the spacing and movement will be a little different."

She then moved over to the boom box in the corner of the room. "We already know what our dance moves are, but I need to show you guys yours and then we'll work on everyone's together, alright?" She asked the boys and they nodded and smiled in encouragement. "Alright, here we go." Rhuben pressed the 'PLAY' button on the boom box.

For the next three hours BTR and DE worked on their dance routine for the concert the next day. At one point Kacy, Jo, Camille, Stephanie, Katie, and WayneWayne stopped by to watch and all agreed that it was going to be a really good performance to start off the show and that it would definitely be original. So they continued to work on it, especially when there was a tough stunt for Carlos. He had to toss his microphone to Logan, then grab onto Patrick's and Noah's hands, where they would help him do a back flip with a twist. It was much like the move that Logan did for the song Big Time Rush when he did the front flip, but it was more difficult and it was hard for Carlos to do, but Rhuben thought that it would be a good one for Carlos so other people could see that he could do difficult dance moves as well as anyone else in the band. Unfortunately, it had caused Patrick and Noah to get kicked in the face on more than one occasion. But after thirty minutes of working on it, he got it down, it wasn't perfect, but it was good enough for someone who had never really had a dance background.

The music got louder with every step as they continued to practice. The tempo increased and sweaty bodies moved together in perfect synchronization. Hearts pounded and breathing came in shallow gasps. When the music seemed as if it could get no faster, it stopped. All you could hear was deep breathing.

Everyone inhaled fresh oxygen into their lungs and went for their water bottles. Towels were put in gym bags and zipped up.

"Good job everyone" Rhuben stated and clapped her hands enthusiastically. "This is going to be such a great concert, and I know that you all are going to do a good job." She stated, slapping James on the back.

"Thanks for the help, Beautiful." James replied as he put an arm around her shoulder in a hug. "It was really helpful.

"What are friends for?" Riley replied with a shrug and then looked a little sad after the words had come out of her mouth. She shook her head and then forced a smile, which looked more like a grimace. "So we have the rest of the day off except for the dress rehearsal tonight. So what do you guys want to do now?"

"What do you think?" Noah replied as his stomach growled. He blushed a little bit. "Let's go and get something to eat.

"Now you're speaking my language." Carlos agreed.

They all left the dance studio with high spirits and went on a search to find some food that tasted good (for Patrick and Carlos because they could basically eat anything without worrying about taste) but was still healthy (for Kendall, because he refused to eat a lot of fast food unless he had a choice in the matter.) Finally, they just went to a grocery store and bought a bunch of junk food and brought it back to the Jacksons' suite, saying that they were going to have a huge party to celebrate their last concert in Australia before heading back to the States.

So that's where everyone was about thirty minutes later. Playing video games on the TV in one room, watching TV in another, and letting the adults have the large TV in the common room. For two reasons really, one; so none of their conversations could be eavesdropped on, and two; because the kids felt that they deserved something after having to watch them for months at a time, especially when they didn't _have_ to do it.

It was when Ronan went into to check on the kids again when he noticed it. Sydney was sitting far away from the others, looking out the window. Ronan watched as Sydney sat on the windowsill, his face pressed against the window, fogging it each and every time he breathed.

He had no idea why Sydney had flinched at the weather report. The forecaster had come on, stating that strong thunderstorms were headed their way, and would probably hit in the middle of the night. After that, the news changed promptly to the local reports, and he might've been interested, had Sydney's reaction not worried him. It was nothing to be bothered about, but the boy had flinched as if someone had raised a hand to strike him, his face visibly drawing up into one of nervousness and more than a little fear. Much like it did when Robert was still around.

Ronan narrowed his eyes.

"Sydney, what's the matter?" Ronan asked, his hand poised to change the channel on the TV.

"What?" Sydney jumped in shock, and nervously twisted his shirt in his small hands, "Oh… uh, nothing Ronan. I'm fine." Ronan looked at him sharply as Sydney's eyes widened innocently. "No, I'm fine, I really am! Promise!"

"Hn," was his only reply, and Sydney once again curled back onto the couch, his chin resting on his knees. Sydney looked mostly fine now, with only a few traces of the worry he'd shown remaining, but Ronan was still bothered and more than a little perplexed by his actions.

Surely thunderstorms weren't so bad?

"What's wrong with Syd?" Katie asked as she turned from the TV, speaking mostly to Patrick and Noah, but Riley opted to answer, looking up from her laptop, pushing her glasses up her nose.

"He's afraid of storms." She explained quietly. "Always has been, which is funny because he is, like, the only person that is brave enough to go up to a snarling dog, and he's afraid of storm." She shrugged. "But I don't blame him; storms down here can get pretty aggro."

"Is it possible for tornadoes?" Katie asked, starting to feel a little worried herself. The hotel was huge and probably had a lot of good places to go, just in case there was one. But now that she thought about their rooms being so big with so many windows and glass vases everywhere, it nerved her a little, to think about it.

"Yeah, but we really don't get anything more than a severe thunderstorm." Riley replied.

"And bad brushfires." Rhuben added, chin in her hands, staring at the TV. "There have been a lot of brush fires over here recently because it gets pretty hot and we have strong winds as well."

"That too.

"Oh." Katie nodded and went back to watching TV.

The rest of the night went by in a peaceful blur. Katie taught Sydney how to play Texas Hold 'Em and Black Jack to keep his mind off of the storm, and then was stuck being beaten hand after hand by the smirking boy as his dimples seemed to get deeper and deeper in his cheek as his smile continued to widen. Sydney's eyes were wide and smiling as he set the flush on the table, unable to hide his pleasure at Katie's hand of absolutely nothing. With a scowl Katie sat back, and made a mental note to never gamble against the kid, not unless she wanted to lose all of the money that she had made from tricking people the past few years.

* * *

It was the middle of the night when the storm hit, just like the forecaster had predicted. For once, he was right. The first crack of thunder rattled the windows, and lightning pierced the sky in bright, jagged arcs; the rain was practically a monsoon, beating against the windows.

The thunder rolled, and Ronan slept on.

He didn't even so much as twitch.

He did, however, jolt awake when something zoomed under the bed sheets, and his hand unconsciously curled into a fist and reared back to—

"Ronan?"

Sydney's voice crept out from under his blankets, and he pulled his hand away, somewhere in his mind vaguely pissed at his youngest son for scaring him like that. Ronan rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, trying to clear the sleep out of them.

"What?" He managed to finally say, his voice cracking horribly. He lifted the blankets up to get a clearer view of Sydney, his eyes still squinted. Sydney was curled up in a ball, his knees pulled to his chest, his arms tucked under them; he looked scared to death.

"Can… can I s-sleep with you t-tonight? P-please?" His quivering voice pleaded, and his wide eyes wide. Ronan almost could have sworn that he saw tears gathering in his eyes, but he knew that Sydney didn't cry that easily. Well, lately he hadn't, but he knew that there were times where he would think about his dad and everything that he had been through and would just burst out frying.

Ronan was quiet a moment, staring in Sydney's direction but not really seeing him before rubbing his eyes yet again.

"What?"

"Please…" He begged, and let out a small, choked sob when thunder once again cracked through the house; he buried his face into his knees. "Please, don't leave me a-alone…"

"Sydney—"

He never got a chance to finish because, at that moment, a blinding flash of lightning lit up the room for one split second, and Sydney dove onto his father, burying his face into his chest, trembling violently. If it wasn't so scary for the young boy, he would have burst out laughing. The look on his face was priceless.

Ronan had no idea what to do. He'd never comforted a woman, or a child, or anyone for that matter in a very, very long time. It was awkward, to say the very least, the way Sydney was pressed against him, and there was no way he could just push him away and say go back to your own bed, not with him like this.

Sydney was almost hysterical, shivering and shuddering, crying out when the thunder rumbled ahead. He knew he should do something, but was a little lost at exactly what to do. He wasn't the sort with the words of comfort, with the long winded speeches intended to make someone feel better, hell, it took him everything not to bore his kids to death when he was trying to give them a lecture whenever they did something wrong.

"I-I hate storms…" Sydney's muffled voice was faint, and laced with fear, but at least it wasn't hysterical any longer; that was a definite improvement.

Ronan nodded, but realizing Sydney couldn't see he smiled to himself. "I noticed." He sighed and moved to the side. "Fine, go to sleep." Sydney smiled and hurriedly crawled to the top of the bed before pressing his face into a pillow, curling himself up into a ball again. Ronan went back to sleep himself, but was woken up again twenty minutes later when he felt himself sink into the bed. He opened an eye to see Noah climbing into the bed as well.

"I'm just making sure Syd's ok." Noah whispered and pulled the blankets up over him.

Ronan nodded and went back to sleep again. But, of course, he was woken up again when Patrick gently pushed open the door to his room and padded into the room himself, shaking Noah's shoulder.

"I woke up, and you weren't there." He said in a slightly whining voice.

"I was making sure Syd was ok." Noah replied in a light whisper. Ronan's back was to them and he could tell that they thought he was still asleep. But with all of this talking that was definitely not going to happen.

"Oh, ok." Patrick climbed onto the bed as well and everyone went to sleep.

They slept soundly for a few hours but then, for no reason, he woke up again. Frustrated, he turned on his other side and fluffed up his pillows. He nearly jumped when he looked down at the bed and saw that Riley and Rhuben had joined their brothers and they were all sleeping peacefully.

Ronan smiled and pulled the covers back over himself and went to sleep.

* * *

**A/N: Well, for the ending of this chapter, I realized I hadn't really had a family moment between the Jacksons in a while, so I thought of, what would happen if there was a thunderstorm and that's where I came up with the idea. Anyway, it was under 5000 than I thought it was going to be, but it was still longer than the other ones I've done recently. But I know for sure that the next ones until the end will be over 5000. I hope you guys liked it.**

**Cheers,**

**-Riley**


	37. Big Time Concert

**Chapter Thirty-Seven – Big Time Concert**

* * *

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" James asked as he sat back in the make-up chair, eyes closed as Riley brushed foundation across his face.

"Hm, let's see," Riley pulled her hand back and rested it against her chin. "I'm short, I don't have a penis, I have two lumps of fat on my chest, and once a month I have crappy mood swings." She stated with a hint of sarcasm. "Meaning I'm a girl, so yeah, I know what I'm doing, Handsome."

"You _do_ realize that now that you've said that he's staring at your boobs, right?" Carlos asked as he pulled his polo shirt over his head, fixing the collar.

Riley looked down and then rolled her eyes as she pulled up the front of her tank-top. "Logie!" She called. Logan walked by James and swiftly smacked him on the back of the head as he continued. "Thank you."

"No problem." He replied and then sat down on the couch in the room. "I can't believe that this is our last concert in Australia."

"We still have three more back in the US." Rhuben reminded him as she continued to brush Kendall's hair. "Don't start getting all sentimental now." She looked at her watch and then kept going. "We have twenty minutes left, by the way!" She called to everyone in the room.

"Twenty minutes?" James' eyes popped open and he started to panic. "Move faster, beautiful. Move faster."

"If I move any faster, you'll get a mascara brush up your nose." She warned with massive amounts of attitude.

"Hey," Patrick greeted as he, Noah, and Sydney walked into the room. "I see that you guys are panicking." He commented when he saw the look on James' face.

"Where have you guys been?" Logan asked as he turned to the three of them, finger-combing his hair and constantly straightening his tie. "We go on in twenty minutes and you haven't gotten dressed or put on any make-up yet."

"We were signing a few autographs and checking out the stage," Noah replied as he climbed into a make-up chair himself, waiting for his turn as soon as Riley was done. Because it was their last concert in Australia, the two bands had given their hair and make-up artists the day off and was doing everything themselves. "And making sure that Gustavo, Ronan, and Kelly weren't freaking out."

"Are they?" Carlos asked as he flopped down onto the couch next to Logan and put his legs in his friend's lap. Logan gave him a look and shoved his legs to the ground.

"Have you heard Gustavo screaming?" Sydney asked and then smiled when Carlos shook his head. "Then no."

"Speaking of Gustavo, I wonder what his big news is," Kendall stated as Rhuben stepped back to let him out of the chair before Carlos took his spot. "He was acting all giddy and weird yesterday and he had that evil gleam in his eye, that same one that he had when we were going to do a photo-shoot."

"Maybe he realized my dreams and is going to make a movie about our band!" James cried dramatically. "Where I'm the star and the movie is centered on me and he gets some other people that can actually act to play the rest of you." He turned his grin to his best friends, who glared back at him. "Or not." He added quickly.

"Who knows," Patrick replied with a shrug. He then snapped his fingers. "Anyone have an iPod?" he asked, holding out his hand. James reached into his pocket and pulled out his before tossing it over to him. "Thank you." Patrick scrolled through it for a second before selecting a song and putting it into the iHome, cranking up the music as Nsync started to play.

"You have Nsync on your iPod?" Rhuben laughed as she turned to James, placing a hand on her hip.

"Hey, Nsync is one of the greatest bands of all time," James defended himself. "And I'm not the only one that thinks so."

"Whatever." Rhuben laughed, rolling her eyes and then moved away from Carlos. "Ok, you're done too." Carlos beamed as he hoped out of the chair. "Anyone else?" She gave a relieved sigh when no one came forward. "Good, now I can get changed for the opening number."

"Not yet." Logan replied, holding up a hand. He motioned to his friends and then he, James, Carlos, and Kendall reached behind the couch and pulled out five bouquets of flowers. "This is for you guys." He announced as they were handed out. "If it wasn't for you being in LA then we wouldn't have been able to get this far."

"This is great and all," Patrick paused as he looked at his bouquet of flowers. "But isn't this a little girly?"

"It's the only thing that we could actually agree on giving you guys." Kendall replied quickly. "Because there really isn't much that we can say for a 'thank you.'" He explained.

"There's not thing that you have to say, it's just something that you have to do." Sydney replied seriously, and then smiled. "Go out and have a good show tonight." With that, he moved his flowers to the table behind him and held his arms out. Immediately, Kendall, Logan, Carlos, James, Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney put their arms around each other and bent their heads down, getting psyched up for the opening number.

"No matter how the show goes tonight, we did our best and we're doing it for our fans." Patrick said. "Just remember that and it will keep you going. We're doing this for our fans first, and then for ourselves." He suddenly looked up. "Oh and one more thing that will help give us good spirits!" He cried.

"What's that?" Rhuben asked, looking a little skeptical.

Patrick looked at his phone. "As of today," he looked up and grinned. "We've known each other for a year exactly."

"And what a year it's been." Kendall added with a smile.

"Can we please save the emotional, sappy moment until after the concert?" Riley asked, looking a little uncomfortable. "I think Carlos is going to start crying soon."

"Hey, who can you be sappy with if it's not your friends?" James asked as he grabbed Patrick and gave him a crushing hug as well as a noogie.

"The hair! Watch the hair!" Patrick shrieked and was let go. "Honestly, I figured after a year you would be able to realize that I hate it when my hair is touched."

"Or that you need to duck out of the way because Ri-Ri is such a klutz." Noah added.

"Or you have to strain to hear because Noah talks so quietly." Riley shot back.

"Or that you have to be prepared because Rhu-Rhu is a massive perfectionist." Sydney teased.

"Or that Sydney is way too smart for his own good, so you're going to have to get used to feeling stupid around him." Rhuben replied. All five of them started to laugh. "It's going to be weird not doing this together." She stated quietly.

"What do you mean?" Logan asked his girlfriend, wrinkling his nose slightly.

"She means nothing." Riley replied, shaking her head as she looked at her watch. "We have to get changed. So, remember you dance steps, don't freak out, and good luck."

* * *

Sydney held his breath as he moved into his position, the stage was so dark he couldn't even see his hands in front of his face and he was nervous. The last show that was in front of thousands of fans from his home country and he was nervous as hell, which was surprising, since he was never nervous when it came to going onstage. But today was different and he knew it. There was a different energy about everyone that day and he didn't know why. Well, that wasn't entirely true, he knew why he and his siblings had a different energy, kind of nervous energy, but he wasn't so sure about the guys. Maybe it was because they were ready to go back home. He squinted an eye shut as some lights turned on and the music started playing.

"When I first saw you I knew nothing's like it used to be." Rhuben sang as she moved in the series of popping and locking dance moves. "Boy you have got to be the finest thing in history." Patrick and Noah then started to do the dance moves, as well. "The way I feel inside is just so hard to understand." Riley and Sydney started to do the dance moves as well. "You feed my appetite in ways I can't explain."

"I'll eat you up," The Jacksons moved forward a few steps, making space for Big Time Rush when they came out, and started to go through their complicated dance steps. "Your love your love. I'll eat you up your love your love.

"Whoa-oh" Rhuben sang.

"I'll eat you up." Patrick, Noah, and Sydney sang as they all did chest pops.

"Whoa-oh."

"So yum yum."

"Whoa-oh."

"Can't get enough."

"Whoa-oh-oh-oh"

"I think I'm in love."

Riley and Rhuben switched places as Patrick, Noah, and Sydney stayed in their same spots, moving through more dance moves, the audience fueling their energy even higher as they went. "If you move any closer boy there is no guarantee," Riley sang and the five of them executed a perfect back-flip at the same time. "What I will do to you I fear it and it's scaring me. Like I've become some kind of demon in the night. You look so tasty I could eat you up alive." As Riley moved a finger across her lips and then pointed towards the back of the stage, pyrotechnics blew up and Big Time Rush appeared from under the stage.

"Make it count, play it straight, don't look back, don't hesitate." Kendall sang into his microphone as the Jacksons backed up to the back of the stage and Big Time Rush moved to the front. "When you go big time."

"What you want, what you feel, never quit, and make it real." James sang with a large smile on his face in response to the screams of the audience. "When you roll big time."

"Hey, hey."

"Listen to your heart now

"Hey, hey."

"Don't you feel the rush?

"Hey, hey."

"Better take your shot now."

"Oh, oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh, oh." Logan moved over with his friends to stand in a line and they went through the familiar dance moves of their title song. "Go on shake it up, what you gotta lose? Go and make your luck with the life you choose. If you want it all, lay it on the line. It's the only life you got, so you gotta live it big time."

The Jacksons, still doing their own dances moves, stepped up teh3 stage towards Big Time Rush and they started to sing the rest of the song together, the way that they had practiced it the day before.

"Look around." Sydney sang as he flipped onto his head and spun in a circle, propelling himself with his legs.

"Everyone is shining now, it's brighter somehow." Kendall and Riley sang as she ran towards him and he held out his arm, spotting her as she spun in a circle around it, landing on her feet.

"Look around."

"Nothing's really as it seems, nothing but dreams" Patrick and James sang as James did a back-flip, and Patrick did a diving roll on the ground her him.

"You and I."

"Gonna make a brand new sound, like we own this town." Noah and Carlos sang as Noah did a flare. Next to him, Patrick and James grabbed onto Carlos' hands and lifted him up into the back-flip with a twist that they had practiced. He had a sloppy landing, but that couldn't stop the grin that slid onto his face when he landed.

"We can fly."

"Now our feet are off the ground and never look down." Logan and Rhuben sang as Logan grabbed onto Rhuben's hand and pulled her into his arms, then spun her out to the side again.

"Welcome to the big time. All the pretty people seen walkin' in the sunshine. Welcome to the good times. Life will never be the same." Sydney sang with as much emotion and power he could muster as he joined his friends again.

"Go on shake it up, what you gotta lose? Go and make your luck with the life you choose. If you want it all, lay it on the line. It's the only life you got, so you gotta live it big time." They all sang.

As they sang the last word, the Jacksons all ran forward, their arms above their heads, and then swung their arms down, do a no-handed front flip-easily landing on their feet as James and Logan did a back-flip simultaneously.

"If you want it all, lay it on the line. It's the only life you got, so you gotta live it big time!"

The audience screamed and cheered as Noah went over to the back-up band and grabbed a microphone. "Thank you, thanks everyone!" He called. "Welcome to our show, in Perth, Australia. Please give a warm welcome to our friends, and opening act, Big Time Rush!"

With that, he put the microphone back in its stand and hurried off stage with his brothers and sisters as the boys went to the front of the stage as the band started to play again.

"Here I am, there you are. Why does it seem so far? Next to you is where I should be" James sang into his microphone as he and Carlos moved to the catwalk of the stage that the Jacksons' had designed themselves. Along with the catwalk, it had a large circle at the front, enough to fit the whole band, and to be closer to the audience.

"Where I wanna be" Carlos sang into his microphone and smiled over at James, who smiled back.

"Something I want so bad, know what's inside your head. Maybe I could see what you see."

"Tell me what you see" Carlos sang and then moved back out of the way as Logan moved to the front of the stage to start singing himself.

"Gotta keep on believing that everything takes time. I'll make up any reason to make you mine." He sang as he pointed to a few of the girls in the front row, causing them to scream and jump up and down. "If you're staying or leaving, I'll follow your lead. So why keep pretending? Open your eyes; I can be what you need."

"Any kind of guy you want, girl, that's the guy I'll be. Turn myself upside down." The four of them sang in unison, standing towards the back of the stage as they did their dance moves to the song.

"Yes I will, yes I will" Logan sang in a high pitched voice, smiling, and trying not to laugh at the same time.

"Any kind of guy you want, girl, you know I'll agree. Turn your whole world around"

"Yes I will, yes I will"

"Any kind, any kind, any kind of guy you want. You decide, change your mind, I will be there. Won't you try, one more try, be my any kind of girl. You decide, It's alright I will be there."

"You seem so hard to know, say goodbye, say hello. Then you say that it's time to go" Carlos sang into his microphone as Logan stood next to him.

"Now it's time to go." Logan sang.

"Changing my point of view, everyday something new. Anything to get next to you"

"Gonna get to you."

"Gotta keep on believing, that everything takes time. I'll make up any reason, to make you mine." Kendall sang as he crouched down and moved over to the screaming fans in the front row. "If you're staying or leaving, I'll follow your lead. So why keep pretending? Open your eyes; I can be what you need."

"Any kind of guy you want, girl, that's the guy I'll be." The four boys sang as they danced across the stage.

"That's the guy I'll be." Kendall sang and smiled towards his sister, who smiled and waved back.

"Turn myself upside down."

"Yes I will, yes I will."

"Any kind of guy you want, girl, you know I'll agree."

"You know I'll agree."

"Turn your whole world around."

"Yes I will, yes I will."

"Any kind, any kind, any kind of guy you want. You decide, change your mind. I will be there. Won't you try, one more try? Be my any kind of girl. You decide, it's alright, I will be there."

"Let me know if I'm getting through." Kendall sang, punching an arm into the air.

"Making you understand." Carlos sang as he moved to the front of the stage.

"If it's wrong I'll try something new." James sang as waved an arm over his head, back and forth, the audience doing the same.

"Don't look away, 'cause I'm here to stay. If it's a game, then I'm gonna play."

"Any kind of guy you want, girl, that's the guy I'll be. (That's the guy I'll be.) Turn myself upside down (yes I will, yes I will). Any kind of guy you want, girl, you know I'll agree (you know I'll agree). Turn your whole world around (yes I will, yes I will)"

"Any kind, any kind, any kind of guy you want. You decide, change your mind. I will be there (I'll be there). Won't you try? One more try? Be my any kind of girl. You decide, it's alright, I will be there."

BTR had gone through the rest of their songs (This Is Our Someday, Big Night, Oh Yeah, 'Til I Forget About You, and Boyfriend) before turning the concert over to the Jacksons, who hurried out onstage with as much energy as anyone had ever seen them have before.

"Hey Perth!" Riley shouted into her microphone and smiled and nodded at the cheering she received.

"That's not good enough, I can't hear you!" Rhuben shouted as she pulled the brim of her hat up a little bit and wiped nervous sweat off of her forehead.

"You all ready to have fun tonight?" Sydney asked and the cheering grew louder. "Ok, here we go!" The Jackson danced a little in place as the music started up. "This song is called From the Inside". He licked his lips. "1, 2, 3, 4!"

"I don't know who to trust no surprise" Riley sang and pulled the microphone away from her mouth as a spot light appeared on Patrick.

"Everyone feels so far away from me" he breathed and walked across the stage.

"Heavy thoughts sift through dust and the lies" Riley sang and waved her arm in the direction of the cell phone lights that were waving in front of her.

"Trying not to break but I'm so tired of this deceit. Every time I try to make myself get back up on my feet, all I ever think about is this. All the tiring time between and how trying to put my trust in you just takes so much out of me." Patrick sang again and snapped as the chorus came up.

"Take everything from the inside and throw it all away, cuz I swear for the last time I won't trust myself with you." The Jacksons sang in unison and pointed to the audience. The spot light shifted over to Rhuben as the others, minus Noah, moved to the front of the stage and touched the audience members' hands.

"Tension is building inside steadily." Rhuben sang and ruffled Noah's hair and he smiled at her.

"Everyone feels so far away from me" Noah sang.

"Heavy thoughts forcing their way out of me" Rhuben closed her eyes as she sang.

"Trying not to break but I'm so tired of this deceit. Every time I try to make myself get back up on my feet, all I ever think about is this. All the tiring time between and how trying to put my trust in you just takes so much out of me." Noah sang.

As the Jacksons moved through the chorus of the song, they started to get more into it. For the Jacksons, 'From the Inside' was an emotional song to them, often making Sydney start to cry when they were rehearsing the song. And everybody could tell that they were starting to get emotional onstage from the fact that Sydney was constantly rubbing his cheeks and that they were singing really hard at the beginning of the concert.

"I won't waste myself on you, you, you. Waste myself on you, you, you" Patrick sang, well, it was actually kind of like a screamo but not exactly. As he sang, Riley, Rhuben, Noah, and Sydney tucked their microphones into their pants pockets and did complicated flips across the stage, causing the audience to cheer in awe.

"I'll take everything from the inside and throw it all away, cuz I swear for the last time I won't trust myself with you. Everything from the inside and just throw it all away, cuz I swear for the last time I won't trust myself with you, you, you." The Jacksons sang and bowed and waved to the crowd and they cheered appreciatively.

"Thanks," Riley smiled as the stage-hands took their microphones and handed them head-mics. "This next song that we're going to perform, actually isn't ours, she explained as she walked across stage. "We're borrowing it from some very good friends of ours."

"And in some way," Patrick broke in. "We're dedicating this song to them. But it's not just to them; it's to the friends that have helped us for the past year and to you guys." He pointed to the audience. "Our fans, who are also our friends. You guys have really helped us as well, especially helping us win that ARIA."

"Our concerts are basically about saying thanks to our family and friends and fans, and this song definitely does that." Rhuben concluded and then smiled. "So thank you guys." She gave a short bow as she adjusted the microphone by her mouth. "This is I Know You Know, by our friends, Big Time Rush."

"Maybe this could be the line that starts the whole story." Riley sang as she moved to the front of the stage, smiling as she went. "Maybe you could be the one, the one who's meant for me." Riley then turned and sang straight to Kendall, who was in the audience with their friends. He smiled as his friends lightly shoved him. "I know that I said wait but what if you're my soul mate? I'll slow down when you say, slow down 'cause we can-"She moved back and stood in the front of her siblings.

"We can party like the weekend," The five of them clapped once over their head. "You got me thinkin', we could be a thing, yeah." They moved a finger to their heads and then quickly moved it away. "I know you know, I've got your heart thumpin'." They did two quick chest-pops. "I know you know, we know we've got somethin'." They stomped a foot on the ground one after another.

Riley and Rhuben moved backwards as Patrick, Noah, and Sydney moved to the front. "We could be onto something so good." They smiled as they their arms across their chests. "Tell me that your mine." They each did a body roll and then slapped their hands onto their hips. "I know you know, you've got my heart pumpin'." They did one chest-pop again and then spun out to move to different sides of the stage as Rhuben moved forward. "I know you know, we know we've got somethin'."

"You know this ain't me at all, I'm usually lost for words." Rhuben moved a hand over her mouth and then smiled, laughing a little as she moved it away. "You know I can't help but fall. I've never felt so sure." She moon walked in a short circle and continued singing. "Got me in a hurry, but you don't gotta worry. I'll slow down when you say slow down. 'Cause we can-"

"We can party like the weekend. You got me thinkin', we could be a thing, yeah. I know you know, I've got your heart thumpin'. I know you know, we know we've got somethin'." The Jacksons sang again as they went through the same dance moves as before, but at different parts of the stage. "We could be onto something so good, tell me that your mine. I know you know, you've got my heart pumpin'. I know you know, we know we've got somethin'-right."

The Jackson then started to skip around the stage, clapping over their heads as they went, beckoning the audience to do the same thing. "We're two of a kind. So let's party like its 99. I know you know, you've got my heart thumpin. I know you know, we know we've got somethin'." They went through the instrumental, still clapping their hands over their heads, grinning like fools as they went.

"I know you know," Sydney sang as he moved to the front circle of the stage at the end of the cat-walk. "I know you know."

"We can party like the weekend." Riley and Rhuben, who were sitting on the ground behind Patrick and Noah, put their hands up, waiting. Patrick and Noah then spread their legs apart and grabbed onto Riley's and Rhuben's hands, pulling them forward through their legs and up to their feet. Then all five of them moved across the stage until they were back in a row from oldest to youngest. "You got me thinkin', we could be a thing, yeah I know you know, I've got your heart thumpin'. I know you know, we know we've got somethin'. We could be onto something so good, tell me that you're mine. I know you know you've got my heart thumpin'. I know you know we know we've got somethin' right, we're two of a kind. So let's party like its 99, yeah. I know we've got somethin'."

The five of them then grabbed each other's hands and took a bow, smiling widely. "Thanks," Patrick called as they finished the song. "Thank you so much!" He reached down and grabbed a water bottle, taking a large gulp before tossing the water out onto the audience.

The concert went on for another hour and a half, and as it was winding down, it was then that the Jacksons knew that it was time to reveal their new song, which was also going to be a single for their next CD.

"Thanks very much you guys, you're so awesome!" Noah called as the stage-hands walked out and handed Riley and Patrick guitars. "Ok, this next song is a new song of ours that we had written, then stopped, then finished again a couple of days ago. Just like I Know You Know, it sends a message out to everyone that has helped us this past year."

"This song is called 'This Is Our Song'." Sydney announced.

Patrick tuned his guitar for a second and then started to sing and as he did so, the giant screen in the background started to show pictures of them and their friends from the tour as well as some videos that Stephanie and Sydney had taken. "So let's sing na, na na na na, hey, ya. Come on and sing na, na na na na, hey, ya."

Riley stood next to her brother and the two played the guitar quietly as they sang together, using head-mics as Rhuben, Noah, and Sydney used hand-held microphones. "This is our song, that's all that matters 'cause we all belong right here together. There's nothing better than singing along, this is our summer, this is our song."

"Come grab your guitar," Noah sang with a smile, holding his microphone up to his mouth. "Sit by the fire." Rhuben then joined in with him. "'Cause we all need a song, when we're weary and tired. We'll sit here together and sing it out loud."

Riley, Patrick, and Sydney then joined in with Rhuben and Noah on the chorus. "This is our song, that's all that matters 'cause we all belong right here together. There's nothing better than singing along. This is our summer, and this is our song. This is our song. This is our song. This is our song."

"Come on and sing na, na na na na, hey, ya" Sydney started out, singing quietly.

"Come on and sing na, na na na na, hey, ya." Patrick and Noah sang, a little louder.

"And come on and sing na, na na na na, hey, ya." Riley and Rhuben sang, even louder.

"Come on and sing na, na na na na, hey, ya." The five of them sang in unison at the top of their lungs.

The audience clapped along to the beat as all five of them started to jump up and down, moving into the chorus. "This is our song that's all that matters 'cause we all belong right here together. There's nothing better than singing along. This is our summer…this is our song that's all that matters 'cause we all belong right here together. There's nothing better than singing along this is our summer, this is our song. This is our song. This is our song."

"This is our song." Sydney concluded the song. "Thank you very much!" Once again, the five of them walked to the front of the stage, grabbed each other's hands and took a bow as the instrumental version of their song 'It's Been A Summer' played in the background. "Thanks for coming out, have a great night and drive home safely, thanks!"

They all headed off-stage and walked the winding hallways back to their dressing room to talk to the few fans that had back-stage passes as well as to their friends and family. "Well," Sydney sighed as he yawned. "Another concert down."

"And a whole night of packing to go through." Noah added as he grabbed Sydney in his arms and picked him up, Sydney resting his cheek on his shoulder.

"Which means-"Rhuben started.

"We're not going to be getting any sleep." Riley concluded.

"Exactly." Patrick replied enthusiastically.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry that it didn't show anything other than the concert and BTR and DE. But the next chapter will make up for it. I'm warning you though, the next chapter is going to make you guys feel really sad, it definitely made me sad when I was writing it, so I hope I wrote it in a way that will get to you. **

**You guys probably recognized the guys doing ****Any Kind of Guy**** from my first story 'Big Time Rivarly'. It's because I moved it here, rather than having to write them perform it a different way, because it's basically the same idea I had in mind. Also ****This Is Our Song**** is not mine, it's owned by Disney/Camp Rock 2.**

***Sigh*. Only three chapters left. They'll be up tomorrow, Sunday, and Monday. So by Monday the story will be over. Thanks guys!**

**Cheers,**

**-Riley**


	38. Big Time 'See Ya' aka Big Time Worldwide

**A/N: To get a good feel for this chapter listen to Graduation by Vitamin C and/or Worldwide by Big Time Rush and/or Say Goodbye by S Club 7 or all three or any other sad song you guys like. I hope you guys enjoy it.**

* * *

**Chapter Thirty Eight – Big Time 'See Ya'**

* * *

"Ok," Stephanie turned on her camera and turned it towards her face. "Today is the day that we're flying back to the US so we can do the final leg of the tour." She explained as she walked around and moved the camera from her face, pointing it towards the floor of hers, Jo's, and Camille's hotel room. "As you can see, we haven't fully packed yet." She laughed a little as she panned over the suitcases and the clothes and the makeup that were scattered around.

"What are you doing?" Camille asked as she walked out of the bathroom, carrying a load of towels and bathrobes. A little makeup case was dangling off of her fingers.

"I'm documenting our last day in Perth," Stephanie replied and zoomed in on Camille's face. "Say 'hi' to the camera!"

"No, Steph!" Camille moved the towels up to her face to make sure that she couldn't be seen. "Turn that camera off, I'm not wearing any makeup and I have a huge zit in my hair line!"

"I'm pretty sure it's nothing," Stephanie reasoned as she reached out a hand to move the towels from Camille's face. "Come on, move those towels!"

"No, stop!" Camille threw the towels into Stephanie's face and ran out of the bedroom into the main area of the suite. "Steph cut it out!" She ran around the main area of the suite as Stephanie chased after her. "I'm not kidding!"

Jo, Kacy, Kelly, and Katie laughed as they walked out of the other parts of the suite and watched Stephanie run around, chasing Camille. Camille had resorted to jumping up on the couch and throwing pillows across the room towards Stephanie, hitting her in the face at some points.

"Go, Steph, get her!" Jo laughed as she watched her friends run around.

"Run, Forrest, run!" Katie added, getting in on the jokes.

"Alright, calm down, save that energy for when we're at the airport and bored waiting for our flight." Kelly commented, holding her hands up so the girls knew not to hit her as she walked over to them.

"Good point." Camille commented as she lowered her hands, which still held pillows. Stephanie sighed and lowered her camera as well. When Camille was sure that Stephanie had her guard down, she threw another pillow at her. "Haha!" She raised her hands over her head in victory before running away as Stephanie turned to glare at her.

"Let me add one more thing," Stephanie turned her camera back on and moved the camera around so that it was pointing at her face. "Camille is a sore loser."

* * *

"Is anyone else having problems getting their suitcase closed?" WayneWayne asked from where he was continuously jumping up and down on top of his. "I didn't think that I got that much stuff, but this is ridiculous!"

"Trust me; you're not the only one that's having trouble." Carlos replied from where Kendall was sitting on top of his suitcase and was trying to zip it closed. "GOT IT!" He shouted, finally getting it to zip shut. "Thanks, Kendall." He thanked his friend as he wiped sweat off of his forehead.

"No problem, buddy." Kendall replied and then looked down as the bag moved under him. "What the-? Whoa!" The bag burst back open, sending Kendall off of the bed and onto the floor. Kendall landed on the ground with a loud thud as a wave of clothes popped out of the suitcase and landed on Carlos, knocking him onto the ground and burying him completely.

"Wow, I'm glad my suitcase isn't _that _bad." WayneWayne commented.

"Carlos, what do you have in there that has caused all of your stuff to get so big?" Logan asked as he and James looked through the suitcase. "I don't think you got that much clothes while we were here."

"I didn't." Carlos replied as he got off of the floor, pulling clothes off of him as he went. "I wonder it could be." He stood up next to the bag and started to look through it. "Hmm."

"Maybe it was these shoes." WayneWayne commented as he pulled out a new pair of shoes.

"No, I think it was this." Carlos stated and pulled out his toothbrush, tossing it over his shoulder. He then packed everything back into his suitcase and closed it easily. "Yep, that's everything!"

"I'm not even going to say how disgusting that even is." Logan commented, his eye twitching slightly. He then leaned over and looked at Kendall, who was sitting on the floor, glaring up at them. "Are you ok?"

"It took you three minutes to ask if I'm ok after I was projectile launched across the room because of a evil suitcase?" Kendall shot back in reply as he got to his feet, brushing off his clothes. James snickered for a second.

"I'm not sure if you know this dude," James started and then started laughing little. "But there are some things in life that are more important than you." He motioned to Carlos' suitcase. "Even if it _is _a evil suitcase."

"I don't know how exactly," Kendall replied as he got to his feet. "But one day, I'm going to kill you in your sleep."

* * *

After having gotten to the airport about three hours before their flight was even going to leave, and entertaining themselves with bad jokes and singing to different songs off of Sydney's laptop, Big Time Rush, DarkElements, Kacy, Ronan, Kelly, Gustavo, Camille, Stephanie, Jo, and WayneWayne finally heard the announcement that they had all been waiting for.

_Now boarding Flight 2874 from Perth, Australia, to Los Angeles, California." _The voice came over the loudspeaker. "_Once again, now boarding Flight 2874 from Perth, Australia_ _to Los Angeles, California. Those which young children can board first._"

"That's us." Kacy stated as she stood up and grabbed her carry-on bag. "Let's go." She smiled as Ronan handed her purse with a warm smile. "Thank you." She whispered with a subtle twitch at the side of her mouth.

"It's no problem." Ronan replied sincerely. "No problem at all." He let out a sigh and ran his fingers through his hair as he waited for Gustavo and Kelly to get their stuff before they started to walk over to the gate, knowing that he wasn't going to want to be around when the others figured out that the Jacksons weren't going back to the US with them. "So, a few things that you guys should know for the flight back."

"What's that?" Gustavo grunted as he shifted his bag on his back. "Try to sleep as much as possible because we're losing a day of our lives." He crossed his arms over his chest. "A day where I could be making money off of the dogs!" he snapped.

"There's that." Ronan chuckled a little as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "And not to eat the vegemite packets that they hand out unless you want to be retching for the next week." He added with an amused smile. "I learned that the hard way." He wiped his hands off on his pants. "No, it's not that, I just wanted to let you guys know that you really helped me out this past year and I don't know what I would have done without you."

"No need to get all sappy on us," Gustavo laughed loudly, nervously, not being one to like heart-felt moments. He slapped Ronan on the back, almost knocking him over. "We're friends…sort of, we're glad to do it."

"Like Gustavo said," Kelly shot Gustavo a look and smiled a toothy smile at him. "We're friends and your kids are cool. They're the ones that are able to keep us," she motioned to herself and Gustavo. "On our toes when it comes to the plans that the guys would try to come up with."

"Yeah, apparently that's the only way that my kids will have fun," Ronan looked annoyed. "If I don't get whiplash from them from being so paranoid my hair is going to turn white prematurely." He smiled and stepped forward, giving Kelly a hug and a kiss on both cheeks. "Don't be strangers you guys; I want to hear everything that's going on with you." He grasped onto Gustavo's hands and they came together and slapped each other on the back.

Then he came to Kacy. "Especially you," he added and smiled. "I want to know _everything_ that's going on with you and the guys."

"I promise to tell you everything," Kacy laughed as she brushed her red hair behind her ear. "Because I'm sure that I'm going to need your advice to keep Kendall and his friends in line at one point." Ronan smiled back and wrapped his arms around her in a hug before lightly kissing her on the lips. "I'm going to miss you." He whispered in her ear.

"I'm going to miss you too." Kacy hugged him back and then slowly let go, giving a smile. "But that doesn't mean that we can't write or call."

"Right." Ronan nodded.

Back with the teenagers, the Jacksons exchanged looks as their friends gathered their stuff and stood up, getting ready to go. WayneWayne was the first one to notice that they weren't moving and looked at them with a questioning look on his face.

"What?" he laughed. "Are you guys deaf?" He motioned behind his shoulder. "Our flight is leaving."

"Uh," Patrick rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled nervously. "Yours is." He coughed as his chest constricted. "Ours is leaving later."

"What do you mean?" Camille made a face as Stephanie slowly lowered her camera from her eye, immediately understanding what she was saying. "We saw your tickets; you're coming back to the US with us." She placed her hands on her hips. "On the plane that's leaving…right now."

"No, we're not." Noah shook his head. "_You_ guys are going home. _We're_ staying here in Australia." He pulled his ticket from his pocket and handed it over to Camille, avoiding her eyes. "It says right there," he pointed. "We're flying from Perth back to Sydney."

Everyone crowded around, looking at the ticket to see that they were right. Carlos didn't move, he bit his lower lip and looked at his friends, as if not understanding what was going on. Finally, his eyes widened and he took off his helmet, throwing it to the floor.

"WHAT?" Carlos practically screamed. "YOU'RE NOT COMING BACK TO THE US WITH US?"

"You don't have to yell," Riley looked agitated as she cupped her hands over her ears. "We're standing right here."

"What is it with you guys not telling us something until the very last minute?" WayneWayne asked, trying to make a joke, but failing at it.

"It's one of our curses." Sydney replied quietly. "Along with being extremely perceptive, pushing people away, and not knowing that we have a good thing until we're about to leave it."

"And many more," Noah added with a slight shrug. "But we can't list them all."

"I don't doubt you on that one, dude." WayneWayne replied.

Logan looked heartbroken and crestfallen at the same time as he looked back and forth between his girlfriend and his best friend. He licked his lips and cleared his throat before opening his mouth. "Why are you guys staying?" he kept his eyes on Rhuben. "D-Don't you want to come home with us?"

"Of course we do," Rhuben looked offended and ran her fingers through her hair. "Look, it's nothing personal; we just want to have some time to ourselves, to be able to have a break." She laughed bitterly. "I haven't had a break from our band or from our show or recording since I was _nine_. I'm tired."

"But" James looked the saddest that any of them have ever seen. "What are guys going to do back here without us?"

"Go to school." Patrick replied as if it was obvious. "I mean, I hate school, but I want to be with my friends again." He suddenly looked panic-stricken. "Not that you guys aren't our friends, but our friends here. "

"We get it," Stephanie laughed hollowly. "Don't worry." She twisted her mouth to the side. "So I guess we better give you your gifts now." She reached into her bag and seven CDs. "This is a video thing that I made about everything that we had gone through on this tour. There's one for each of you, one for Ronan, and one for Julius and Brittany."

"Aww, cool," Sydney smiled as he eagerly took a CD and placed it on his chair. "We have something for each of you guys too." He looked at each of his friends sternly. "Close your eyes."

"If I close my eyes, I'll start to cry." Jo warned as she blinked rapidly, her eyes already turning red.

"Do it anyway," Sydney instructed. "This is important." He waited for everyone to do as they were told and then opened his suitcase, pulling out nine hard cover books. He juggled them in his arms as Riley passed one out to each of their friends. When he was sure that everyone had one he started to bounce up and down on his toes. "Ok, open your eyes!"

Their friends did as they were told and looked down at the books in their hands with confusion. Kendall was the first one to get it. "Yearbooks?" he questioned.

"Yep," Rhuben smiled. "Syd and I had been working on this pretty much ever since that we all became friends." She looked at WayneWayne apologetically. "There may not be as much stuff with you in it, but I'm sure you'll like it anyway."

"Trust me, I'm sure I will." WayneWayne agreed with a nod. "I may not have known you guys for long or became your friends easily," he added as he shot a look at Kendall, who looked embarrassed. "But it was still fun getting to know you guys."

"Best part," Riley jumped in. "Each of us wrote a note in every single one of those Yearbooks," she paused. "But don't read them until you're on the plane, that way it will take up some time on the long flight home." She advised.

"Thanks," James sighed and slapped his yearbook onto the palm of his hands repeatedly. "That's very nice."

"And we also made this especially for you, Logie." Riley said and handed him a leather bound book. She motioned for Logan to open it and he did so, smiling when the first two pictures that he found on the front page.

The two pictures were sitting one on top of the other with stationary around it saying 'BFFs' and 'Best Friends Forever' and the like all around it. The first picture was of Riley, Rhuben, and Logan when they were 8 walking up the street, holding hands with Logan in the middle. The picture underneath it was the same picture but had been taken recently to show that no matter how many years had passed, they were still best friends.

"We made this scrap book for you, just in case you missed us." Rhuben stated. "Of course everyone else is in there, but it's mostly pictures of you, me, and Riles."

"I love it, thanks." Logan closed the book and held out his hand. Riley and Rhuben smiled and put their hands out as well, doing their three-way secret handshake that they had made a long time ago.

Patrick made a face as he looked at everyone. "You're not going to start crying are you?" he asked, taking a small step back.

"No," Carlos sniffed loudly. "But I will!" he started to cry loudly and threw his arms around Stephanie, burying his face into her neck. "I'm going to miss you guys so much!" Stephanie laughed awkwardly as she patted his back, Carlos' body racked with sobs. "Who's going to do stupid fun stuff with me?"

"We are, duh." Kendall looked offended.

"You got that right." Camille agreed sardonically.

"But who is going to try and help me make things better but eventually make them ten times worse before they even get remotely better?" Carlos lifted his arms from his girlfriend and looked at the Jacksons with wide, wet eyes.

Rhuben winced at the look on his face; he looked like a wounded dog. '_Maybe we should have told them earlier so we could have gotten this over with faster_' she thought to herself. '_Usually I wouldn't care when I did this to other people, but now it's actually bugging me._'

"We are pretty good at that." Noah remarked, trying to get his friends to laugh. '_Better than we thought._'

But it didn't work.

"And who is going to-"

"Carlos, we get the point." Sydney interrupted swiftly, yet firmly. "You're acting like we aren't going to miss you at all." He blinked his eyes rapidly, showing that he was going to start crying soon. "Because trust me, we are." His lower lips trembled when Jo, Camille, and Stephanie started to cry at this point. "Aww, now you guys are going to make me cry." He hurried forward and gave the girls a hug around their waists.

"Wow," Logan ran his fingers through his hair as he gave a half smile at Riley and Rhuben, sniffing a little. It was funny, because Carlos was the one that was pegged as the most sensitive out of all of them, but now Logan just wanted to drop to his knees and start crying. "Funny enough, I didn't think that we were going to be away from each other ever again." He scratched his forehead. "Like, the thought didn't cross my mind that at one point you guys were going to be-"

"Logie-Bear, we get the point." Riley interrupted, sucking her lips into her mouth. "But you had to have thought that at one time we were going to go on tour without your or something."

"Nope." Logan shook his head adamantly. "Never crossed my mind."

"Why?" Rhuben questioned honestly.

"You two are my absolute best friends and I've already lost you guys once, nearly twice with your dad being around, and I didn't want it to happen again." Logan stated truthfully.

"You're not losing us, Logie." Rhuben rolled her eyes. "We're just resting for a while, we'll be back. Besides," she smiled and lightly knocked him on the arm. "You can't get rid of us that easily."

"Trust me, I'm aware." Logan rolled his eyes as he started to smile a little bit. "Before I considered you my best friends I tried to lose you guys 'cause you were following me everywhere."

"That was only because you had ring-pops." Patrick jumped in and smiled as Riley lightly smacked him on the back of the head.

"That and it was because we were just trying to make sure that you didn't get beaten up again." Riley defended herself. She opened her arms and threw them around Logan's neck, resting her forehead on his shoulder as she reached a hand up and ran her fingers through the hairs at the base of his head. A familiar gesture that she did to calm him down and to relax when they were younger. As Logan felt the familiar sensation of relaxation, he realized that it still worked and that he had missed it whenever she did that. "I love ya, Logie-Bear and don't forget to write and call or I'll beat you."

"I don't doubt it." Logan replied, squeezing her tightly, not wanting to let go, but knew he had to or Kendall would kill him. "Love ya, too Landy." He kissed her cheek and let her go before walking over to Rhuben and placing his hands on her cheeks, smiling gently at her. She smiled back, squinting her eyes slightly, causing Logan to laugh. "You might as well just let the tears fall; I already know that you're crying."

"No I'm not!" Rhuben denied and her feet started to tap rapidly. "Damn." She muttered without any feeling, knowing that she was caught lying, but didn't really care.

"What's up?" Logan brushed the tears off of her cheeks with the back of his hands.

"Nothing," Rhuben sighed heavily, her shoulders dropping. "Everything." She contradicted herself a second later. She looked at her feet before looking up at him again, her dark blue eyes boring into his brown ones with an emotion that he had never seen before. "I love you." She stated simply.

Logan felt his heart soar, it was the first time that she had said she loved him and he knew that she meant it from the look in her eye. He was upset at first that he always told her that he loved her and she wouldn't say the words back. But after Julius explaining to him that behind her cold exterior she was an incredibly sensitive and slightly insecure person because of her past boyfriends pretending to love her it was hard for her to say. Now all he cared about was the fact that the girl he loved, loved him back and that nothing could change his feelings for her.

Logan smiled happily and kissed her, frantically moving his mouth over hers, not wanting to let go, but knowing he had to. Ruben kissed him back with as much passion, tightly holding onto his arms; Logan could feel her hands shaking.

He finally pulled back and pulled her into his chest, resting his head on top of hers. "I love you too." He murmured in reply. "So much and I always have-"

"And you always will." Rhuben finished for him, something that she hadn't done for a while either. "I know." She gave a half-smile. "I know." She repeated in a whisper.

Kendall and Riley were sitting in two empty seats a few rows away from everyone else. Kendall was slouched down in his seat, his arms crossed over his chest and Riley sat next to him, her legs brought up underneath her as she studied his profile.

_I know that we should have said something before we tried to leave _Riley thought to herself as she sighed heavily, brushing her hair away from her face. _They're acting like we're not going to be sad to not be around them for a long time, who knows how long. But they don't know how hard it is for us to make friends and to keep them. It's just easier for us to get in and to get out, because that's the way that we were pretty much trained to deal with our emotions and now that we don't have to live that way anymore…it's just hard._

Riley nervously pulled her hair from her face again. "You might as well say something, "She stated as she tilted her head to the side. "I can tell that you're upset, I can see it in your face."

"How can you see it in my face?" Kendall questioned, finally speaking, turning his head to look at her. She winced a little, afraid of what his eyes were going to say when he had looked at her. And she was right to be afraid of it, in his eyes showed heart-ache and frustration.

"I'm very perceptive," Riley commented lazily, feigning confidence. She straightened herself again. "Besides, I've been watching you long enough to know the kinds of faces that you make whenever you're upset about something." She added truthfully.

"Normally a comment like that would make me smile, but I can't muster it up at this point." Kendall muttered honestly and turned to completely face her. "I think I understand why you guys waited so long to tell us that you were going to be staying here while we went back to the US," he cracked his knuckles. "But it's kind of annoying," he paused. "Well, annoying isn't a strong enough word," he interjected. "How we just got back together and now we're going to be apart again."

"Do you not believe in long distance relationships?" Riley raised her eyebrows, looking a little scared herself. "Because we can break up again," she added seriously. "After I get back to Steak and Kidney I mean."

"No!" Kendall shook his head firmly. "God no, I don't want that." He reached out and took Riley's hands in his. "I'd rather have a long distance relationship with you than not have you in my life, again. That nearly killed me."

"I know the feeling," Riley admitted, bowing her head a little bit. "The whole time that we were broken up it nearly killed me to have to look at you and know that I could hug or kiss you." Riley moved forward and rested her head against his chest. "I don't want to leave you either, you're the first guy that I've every fully trusted; besides Logie, and I love you very much. I'm going to miss the plans that we make together," she smirked as she lifted her head. "Besides, we all know that more than half of your plans wouldn't have worked if I wasn't there to help."

Kendall burst out laughing. "I have to agree on that," he replied begrudgingly. He wrapped his arms around her and smiled when he felt her small hands on his lower back. "I'm going to miss everything about you. I'm going to miss your smirk, your laugh, your smile, and your voice."

"I'm going to miss the same thing about you too," Riley agreed, her voice muffled against his chest. "Besides the smirking thing I mean, because I have a copyright on it."

"Do you always joke around when you're sad?" Kendall asked as he pulled back and looked down at her.

"And when I'm nervous," Riley replied and wiped at her eyes, trying not to show that she was crying, but Kendall knew better.

He knew exactly how it felt to be the 'leader' of the group and trying to be strong for everyone else. But there were also times that you had to let the emotions out, even if you felt weak doing it, because if you didn't then it would get bottled up and just eat at you and eat at you until you finally let it out.

Riley took a deep breath and sat up so Kendall could look into her eyes. "Keep in mind that I don't usually say things like this," she started off, chuckling a little out of nervousness. "But I want you to listen carefully...I promise; that no matter how big your band gets, how little time we get to spend with each other, or if I'm back home for a while, you're always, always going to be my Hockey-Head" She gave a soft smile. "I love you."

"I love you, too Ruby." Kendall kissed her forehead, the bridge of her nose, and then her lips as he hugged her tightly, not wanting to let go. But then their flight was called again and they knew that they had to get going.

Hand-in-hand, they walked back to the others and stood with them in silence, not sure what to say. Everybody was standing around each other again, each saying their goodbyes. The girls promised over and over again that they would call to complain about whatever trouble the guys got in and Riley and Rhuben agreed that they would take pictures of every good looking celebrity and normal guys they could and send it back to them as the guys traded man-hugs and ideas for pranking Bitters along with music tips.

"_Last call for boarders on Flight 2874 from Perth, Australia, to Los Angeles, California." _The voice came over the microphone again.

Sydney leaned over and waved towards the women who was standing outside of the door that lead to the plane and waved shortly, while pointing to his friends. She looked at him, looked at his friends, and nodded, holding up a hand, letting him know that they had five minutes.

"Time for you guys to go," Sydney stated with a half smile as he leaned back and looked at his friends, twisting his mouth to the side. "You don't want to miss your flight back home do you?"

"If you guys aren't coming, then we might as well." Carlos replied and pouted a little, tightening his grip on Stephanie's hand. "Who's going to –"

"Carlos!" Riley interrupted sharply. "We went over this already; we're not going to do it again!" She smiled as she laughed a little. "Things are going to be fine, we're not going to be gone forever," she took a breath. "Besides, eventually this was going to happen, it's not like we can only go on tour with you guys."

"Why not?" James questioned, looking miserable.

Rhuben burst out laughing. "Guys, it's not the end of the world!" She threw her hands into the air. "Geez, you're acting like we're dying or something!"

"Get on the plane," Patrick smiled warmly. "Go home, and just live your lives for a while, we're going to see each other again." He made a face. "Besides, what kind of people are we to not come back and mess with Bitters and Gustavo?"

"Good point." Katie remarked, lightly kicking the bag that was by her side. "If you guys didn't come along, I definitely wouldn't have been able to get many schemes against him done." She laughed a little at the memory. "My favorite was the giant gummy bears."

"Ah, that was a beaut one," Noah smiled and nodded in appreciation. "One of my best if I do say so myself." He added.

Katie smiled when she heard the accent in his voice, over the past few weeks the Jacksons' accents have definitely gotten stronger and it was funny to listen to, as they had gotten used to it. She even found herself and the guys starting to use some Australian phrases because they had been there so long.

"Uh," Noah cleared his throat and glanced at Kendall before looking over at Katie again, his face turning red. "This may be the absolute worst time that I'm asking you this," he started to wring his hands together. "You know, because you're leaving and everything. But," he cleared his throat, which had suddenly gone dry.

Jo caught Riley's and Rhuben's eyes and smiled, raising her eyebrows, asking a silent question. Rhuben tilted her head to the side slightly and then nodded, her smirk growing wider as she turned her eyes back to her brother, knowing that everyone's attention on him was making him uncomfortable.

"I was wondering," Noah rubbed the back of his neck, his face the same shade as a tomato. "If you wanted to be my girlfriend…officially?" He fell silent and kept his gaze towards the ground, waiting for an answer.

"Oh," Katie's face turned red as well, under the stares and knowing smiles of everyone else. "Yeah, that sounds ok." She smiled, lifting her head so she could look right into Noah's eyes when he lifted his head and looked at her in shock. "I think we could make that work."

"R-Really?" His smile bloomed as Katie nodded. "Cool."

"Hey, we have to go!" Big Time Rush, Katie, Camille, WayneWayne, Jo, and Stephanie turned to see Gustavo, Kacy, and Kelly waving over at them as they stood next to the gates to board the plane.

Jo sighed heavily as she turned back to her friends, wiping away the tears that were already falling down her cheeks. "I'm going to miss you guys so much." She whimpered, her lower lip quivering, and held out her arms to give Riley and Rhuben a hug.

Rhuben held up a hand, causing Jo to stop and looked at her in confusion.

"How about a group hug instead of individual hugs?" she questioned and took a step back, putting her arms around her brothers. Patrick and Noah smiled and nodded and a large grin took over Sydney's face as he bounced up and down on his toes. Rhuben rolled her eyes. "Ignore them, they love doing group hugs." She commented dryly.

"So do we," Kendall agreed and all of them walked into a group hug, bending their heads so they touched, giggling. It was a bitter-sweet way to leave and everyone knew that, each individual trying to hold back their tears as they were called again.

"Bye." Sydney waved as he took a step back.

"We'll see you soon." Noah stated with a firm nod.

"Don't forget to write." Patrick added.

"Or call." Rhuben agreed as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"All in all," Riley took a deep breath and smiled genuinely, the first one that she had given since she met them. "Don't forget us." She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up and smiled into Ronan's face before smiling back at her friends again.

"Won't happen." Kendall reassured her and took Katie's hand in his. She was looking at the floor, obvious trying to hide her tears. He gave the Jacksons one last smile before turning and following his friends onto the plane.

As soon as the door to the plane closed, the Jacksons turned and went to their gate so they could fly back to their home as well.

* * *

**A/N: Alright guys the next chapter is the second to last one and I'm pretty sad that this story is going to end this soon. I had so much fun writing this trilogy for you guys. I remember when I started Big Time Rivalry, not thinking that it was going to be as big as it actually is. I also remember how I did Don't Stop Believing last summer and got it done quickly because I was doing it so I could update every day. Anyway, the last two chapters are coming up soon and I hope you guys like it.**

**-Riley**


	39. Big Time Home

**Chapter Thirty-Nine – Big Time Home**

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Kendall stood there, taking in a lungful of that refreshing, sweet yet slightly smoggy air of Los Angeles. Turning his head back towards Carlos, who was blabbering away, obviously excited being back home, he decided to concentrate on the city.

The city was just as he remembered it, warm and inviting. The Palm trees gently swayed in the warm wind that blew from the ocean. Car horns and loud, pulsing music, poured out of cars as they passed. Everyone that walked by him and his friends were smiling widely, obviously excited for whatever adventure they were about to go on themselves. It reminded him of the yearbook that he had in his backpack from his friends who were half-way across the world. Unlike everyone else, he refused to read it on the plane and was waiting until he got back to the Palm Woods to read them all. It would just make things more complete that way.

"Uh-oh," Camille laughed, getting Kendall's attention. "We're going to want to move out of the way or we'll get trampled." She nudged WayneWayne's arm and the two backed up as a group of girls (and a few guys) ran over to Big Time Rush, waving posters and CD's in their faces, asking for autographs and all talking loudly.

"And to think, later in life we're going to be able to say that we knew them when." Jo joked as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Yeah," Stephanie agreed as she turned on her video camera, laughing as a girl wrapped her arms around Logan's neck for a picture, hugging him tightly. "If they live that long."

Kendall smiled as he grabbed another girl's notebook and quickly signed it before posing for a picture. He looked up at Jo, Camille, WayneWayne, and Stephanie, who were watching them with smiles on their faces, then looked over at Katie and the adults. Katie was already talking to a few kids, probably trying to scam them out of their money; Kelly was looking at her palm pilot as well as watching the boys, making sure that things weren't getting out of hand. Gustavo was watching the guys with a stern expression on his face, although he was nodding slowly. If Kendall had to guess, he was probably thinking of how he was going to get Griffin off of his back and his mother was looking at them with the most amount of pride that he had ever seen.

He continued to smile as they finished signing autographs and headed back to the Palm Woods.

If there was one thing that living in Los Angeles had taught him, it is that: no matter where he was from, where he was now or where he will be in the future, Los Angeles is his second home.

And there's no place that comes even close to home.

* * *

**A/N: Yeah, yeah, short chapter, but I think that this is better shorter rather than longer. Not much to say here because there's still the final chapter to go through, you'll get an extra long author's note then. But all I can say it, just wait for the next chapter and everything will be finished there.**

**Do you want me to write one more for 'With Friends Life These'? Problem is, I'm not sure what to write about if I did that, I have one idea, but I may keep it for a side story. Ha ha :P**

**Cheers**

**-Riley**


	40. Welcome to the Big Time

**Chapter Forty – Welcome to the Big Time**

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"What are we waiting for exactly?" James asked as he kicked off his shoes and propped his feet up on the coffee table that was sitting in front of the orange couch in 2J. "Did Gustavo ever tell you when he called?" he asked looking over at Logan, who just shook his head in reply.

"I'm sure that if Gustavo has something that he wants to tell us, it must be important," Kendall reassured his friend as his eyes traveled around his home. "I mean, especially since he wanted mom and Katie to be here too."

"And there was definitely no way that we were going to miss this either." Stephanie commented from Carlos's side where the two of them were sitting on the couch. Jo was sitting next to James and WayneWayne and Camille were sitting on the floor, next to each other. As soon as Gustavo had called them that morning to tell the guys that he had some amazing news, everybody had been waiting around impatiently, trying to figure out what was going on. What really should have tipped them off was the fact that it was the one of the few times that Gustavo hadn't shouted at them.

"You couldn't possibly think that I would miss something as big as this either," Katie stated as she looked up from her cell phone, pausing in her texting. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and raised her eyebrows. "I mean, I know that with you guys I shouldn't be surprised with whatever Gustavo has to tell you, but what could have happened in the six months since we've gotten back from the tour around the US and Australia."

"They could have broken something that will be a lot of money for me to pay for it to be fixed." Mrs. Knight stated after a second and started to look around the room rapidly, as if she was checking to make sure that things weren't going to fall apart at that second.

"Mom," Kendall stared at his mother, the one word holding everything that he was feeling at that moment.

"You never know Kendall, with you guys you could have broken something and hidden it hoping that I would never find out." Mrs. Knight stated patiently.

"Yeah," Carlos grinned and nodded as if he was on massive amounts of sugar. "Like that shoe rack that Logan and I broke that we tried to put back together with tape and glue." Logan's eyes widened and he looked over at Carlos as he continued talking. "I mean, it's been barely sitting together for _months_ and you never found out!"

"Until now!" Logan snapped back through gritted teeth.

"But Katie is right." Jo spoke up, changing the subject as everyone turned to her curiously. "You guys have gotten a lot done in the last sixth months, so whatever you're getting must be something really rewarding, like, the best news that you could ever get."

Both of the girls were right. When they had gotten back from the tour six months ago they were depressed at first. Going around the US and Australia on a tour bus with their best friends was the best thing in the world. Since it was over, it was like the whole tour had been a dream, especially since the Jacksons, who they had gone on tour with, didn't come back with them. On their last stop in Australia, Perth, the Jacksons had surprised them by saying that they weren't going to be joining Big Time Rush and their friends back to the United States to finish the tour. The same day they were flying back to the US, the Jacksons were going to be flying back to their home of Sydney to take a break from their music making. They deserved it because it seemed that ever since they were adopted the first time all they ever did was write music, record, and perform over and over again.

So they decided to stay in Australia to act like normal kids and to work on their show. Even though their show incorporates a lot of music into it, they wouldn't be touring or making new music for a while. It was hard to let them go, especially for Kendall and Logan who have been dating Riley and Rhuben for about ten months, six of those months being really long distance and Katie who had been dating Noah for six months as he had actually asked her to be his girlfriend right before they left. (It was bad timing on his part, but he knew that it was something that he wanted to do. Plus you can't count the fact that Kendall and Riley and Logan and Rhuben had broken up and gotten back together at one point because they weren't apart for long.) It was hard for everyone to leave their best friends behind and fly all the way back across the world. Sure they keep up with Skype chats and ustream videos, and phone calls, but it wasn't the same.

After the first month Gustavo and Kelly got them working hard on their music and their dancing to take their minds off of it and after a while they went back to their old mischievous self. At that time Jo has become a successful singer as well as working as an actress on the side, Stephanie is a famous film-maker and has done many internships with big film makers as well as having many of her movies in film festivals. Camille is currently working on a major motion film where she has the lead role and WayneWayne is working as her assistant as well as helping her memorizing his lines and give support for auditions. But he has started a singing career where he sings a Pop and R&B mix, expecting his first CD to be put out soon.

Katie though, had come to terms with her father not going to be back in their life ever again and is happier than she has ever been. She does continue to use her brother and his friends for her personal gain to get money, and her mother approves it because she gives half of the money to charity, especially after seeing the orphanage that the Jacksons had lived in for a while when they were younger. But she also followed her brother and his friends to the studio to watch them record or dance and has learned some of the basics when it comes to learning how to produce music.

Mrs. Knight has been doing pretty well too. Even though she and Ronan could potentially have something, they both didn't want to wreck what their kids have and decided to just stay friends. He helped her get a job back in LA where she now works in a beauty shop, where she does people's hair and does their makeup. She is the co-manager, works whatever hours she wants, and is getting paid really well, more so than she used to get as a waitress back in Minnesota. She enjoys working, getting to know other women, and she also enjoys coming back to the apartment to see how her sons' and daughter's day went. Especially if Kendall will (try) to make dinner for her. (Usually Carlos had to take over.)

Everybody had changed since the end of tour and it was a good thing, because it made them happier than they had ever been before, even though they missed their friends like crazy. It wasn't as bad when they first got back to LA, but it was still bad enough.

"Let's just watch some TV to take our minds off of it," Logan stated and grabbed the remote from James and started to channel surf. "Hey, what's this?" he questioned when he found a channel that they hadn't had before they left. (At least of what they were aware of.)

"What is it?" Jo questioned, furrowing her eyebrows together.

"Shh," Logan turned up the volume and everyone watched as a Disney Channel commercial appeared on the screen. The only weird thing about it was the fact that the commercial was in Australian. And they hadn't had an Australian channel on their TV before.

"Since when do you guys have Disney Channel Australia all the way over here?" Stephanie questioned, brushing her bangs off of her forehead.

"I didn't think that we had it," Kendall stated and then looked over at his mother, who shrugged in reply, looking as baffled as they were.

"I wonder how that happened" James commented, looking up from the TV booklet that was sitting on the coffee table. Logan smiled as he thought back to a conversation that he had with Sydney while he was on tour.

"_I bet you guys can't wait to get back home," he stated, licking peanut butter off of his fingers. He smiled. "You guys are going to love the surprise that we have set up for you."_

"_Oh yeah, what's that?" Logan questioned, watching to make sure that Sydney didn't cut himself as he cut his peanut butter and banana sandwich in half. Sydney just smiled._

"_You'll find out." He replied mysteriously._

"I think I know how." Logan stated, shaking his head as he leaned back against the couch cushions, watching intently. Commercials for movies and PSA announcements for different things moved by on the screen as they teenagers continued to watch. Then a familiar face appeared on the screen.

"G'day, I'm Patrick Jackson-McGuire from Living The Rockstar Life," On screen, Patrick introduced himself and then it showed him pretending to play the bass guitar as he shook his head back and forth, his long hair flying around and then showed him laughing. "And you're watching Disney Channel." It then showed him making the famous Mickey Mouse ears with a yellow glow stick and the screen went black.

"No way!" James cried as soon as the first scene of the episode came up. "I don't believe it, it's the episode that Camille filmed with them before we came back here!"

"That can't possibly be a coincidence," WayneWayne remarked, shaking his head. "It was timed way too well for this to just so happen."

"I was thinking the same thing," Katie agreed as she got up from the kitchen table and hurried onto the couch, jumping onto Kendall's lap.

"Knowing Sydney, he timed it perfectly." Logan commented off-handedly.

Everyone watched, laughing at each other, and poking fun at the way that Big Time Rush had acted in the episode as the hour long season finale went on. Mrs. Knight sat at the back of the room as she watched, occasionally looking at the teenagers in the room. It was obvious from the way that they were watching the episode and the way that James and Carlos were tearing up, even though they were trying to hide it, that they remembered the times on set those days and that it was something that they weren't going to forget anytime soon.

"Watcha watching?" Gustavo suddenly asked, causing everyone to jump. They didn't notice that he and Kelly had walked into the room. Usually you could tell he was coming, because he sounded like a train, or a earthquake. Either way, there was some way for you to know that Gustavo Rocque was cominga dn that you were supposed to get out of the way as soon as possible.

"Gustavo! Kelly!" Logan muted the TV, ignoring Carlos' and Katie's sounds of disappointment. "When did you get here?"

"About five minutes ago," Kelly replied, motioning towards the open door. "But you guys were so quiet in here; it was if no one was home."

"So we just barged in" Gustavo concluded and walked over to the couch, shoving Kendall, Katie, and James to the floor before taking up the empty space. Katie opened her mouth to say something, but Kendall quickly slapped a hand over her mouth, waiting until her shoulders relaxed until he pulled his hand away. "So do you guys want to hear the good news that I have for you?"

"No, I just want to be shoved off the couch and onto the floor for kicks." James replied with a sharp look towards Gustavo, running his hands through his hair to make sure that his hair was ok.

"Ignore him Gustavo, we've all learned how to." WayneWayne commented and smiled innocently when James glared over at him.

"What's the good news?" Mrs. Knight questioned, smiling a little bit.

"First," Kelly pulled her clipboard away from her chest and pulled a letter addressed to Mrs. Knight away out. She handed it over to the woman, who looked surprised. "This is for you, Kacy." Mrs. Knight took the letter and quickly looked at the return address before tearing open the envelope.

"Who's it from, mom?" Katie asked, standing up and moving next to her, to try and read it herself, but Mrs. Knight backed away a little bit, keeping it out of her grasp.

"It's from Ronan," she replied with a small smile. Kendall and Katie exchanged glances as they waited, their mother reading over a sheet of paper. She took one sheet of paper and folded it up, sticking it in her pocket, before handing the other one to Logan. "Here, you can read this part" she said, smiling.

"Alright," Logan cleared his throat and started to read out loud. "Dear Kendall, Logan, James, Carlos, and everyone else that is in the room with them when you get this letter, first off we want to say that we're doing fine back home, even though we miss you guys like crazy. Patrick is constantly talking to his friends about how James helped him with his hair, while Noah is equally talking to everyone about how James has helped him become more confident. Thanks for that."

Logan started to smile as he continued reading. "Sydney had been moping around a lot the first few weeks because all of you guys are like family to him and he misses all of you, especially Stephanie, Jo, and Camille because as he says, they made him feel wanted, as well as made great cookies."

The girls started laughing as James took the sheet of paper from Logan and continued reading. "Carlos, we all miss you due to your wackiness, things are more boring without you here, even though we try to hit the beach as much as possible. WayneWayne, you were kind of a weird dude at first, but what we like about you is that you were able to close our circle of friends so easily and that you've always been nice to us. We hope your relationship with Camille is going well and if you break up…well…you know that Riley and Rhuben will come back over there to personally beat you up."

"They probably would too." WayneWayne commented as Carlos took the sheet of paper.

"Kendall and Logan, of course we can't forget you guys. Logie, you've been the best friend that we've ever had, even when we weren't together for a long time. Thanks for always caring about us. Kendall, well, there's not much we can say about you, Riley has definitely not had as many good planning ideas without you around. So at least you were good for something besides making her happy. Just kidding."

Katie took the sheet of paper next. "Gustavo and Kelly, you guys are probably the only ones that were able to keep Ronan sane while watching all of us, and you were also the ones that could get him to have some fun. You guys helped us have fun as well and we can't tell you how much fun it was trying to get over your heads with plans, especially with how in tune you guys are with Big Time Rush getting in trouble all the time."

Kendall was the last one to take the sheet of paper. "Finally, Mama Knight. You've done so much for us ever since we've known you. You helped us get rid of our dad, you fed us, made sure that we were ok, and have been the best mother that we have never had, so we're glad to call you Mama Knight. To thank you for everything that you've done for us, we've bought a house in LA for you, Katie, and all of the guys." As Kendall read this, everyone had different reactions of surprise, shock, and excitement. "It's been completely paid for so you guys don't have to worry about the bills. It's big enough so that you don't have to worry about being around them all the time, but small enough that you can be the mother hen that we know you will be." Kendall smiled as he handed the letter over to his mother. "That's great mom." He smiled warmly.

"We hope that you guys are very busy with your music and that you're having fun. We know that you're going to excel in everything that you do and you have us as support anytime you need it. See you later, Ronan, Julius, Brittany, Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney." Mrs. Knight finished reading, staring to cry a little bit.

"Aww mom," Katie smiled as she rested her head against her mother's waist and wrapped her arms around her. "That's so awesome."

"I can't believe that they bought us a house." Mrs. Knight stated as she wiped away her tears.

"Hey!" Gustavo stated loudly, moving the attention back to himself. "Can I please give _my_ news now?" He waited until he had everyone's attention before speaking again. "Right," Gustavo cleared his throat. "Griffin, Kelly, and I were just in a meeting and we were looking over the numbers for your guys' merchandise and ticket sales and they were through the roof."

"Meaning that you guys have a contract for another year at Rocque Records," Kelly continued, seeing the confused looks on the guys' faces. "You get to make a whole new CD, do more tours, more photo shoots, more radio shows, whatever your heart's content."

"And that's not all," Gustavo broke in before the guys could start cheering. "We talked it over with Griffin and he agreed that you guys better brush up on your acting skills for the Big Time Rush TV show that we're going to be making. You guys will play yourselves as you show the world your story of how you went from four hockey players from Minnesota to the big band that you guys are now." He paused, noticing that the guys weren't looking happy. "Here's the part where you cheer."

"Alright," Kendall replied as he and his friends stood up, brushing off their clothes. "We just weren't sure." With that, all of them started to freak out, screaming and hugging each other with happiness. It was when they were settling down that they heard a familiar, accented, voice.

"Huh, Big Time Rush getting a TV show? Who'd want to watch that?"

Everyone turned around and smiled when they saw who it was.

Kendall grinned.

No matter where he went, what he did or who he met, he would always look back on his first year in LA with the fondest memories. It was the start of a new chapter in their lives. The only way was up for him and with his friends by his side, he felt like he was ready for anything.

Sometimes life throws you the weirdest curveballs and you have to maneuver your way around them. And Kendall supposed, in some roundabout way (even though it sounded bad) he had the Jacksons' past for to thank for all this. If their parents hadn't died, they wouldn't have been moved out to Texas and LA, wouldn't have been working there when BTR got their start, wouldn't have bumped into the boys… know what, just read the whole story again, from the start of the series.

As for him and his friends?

No matter what happened, they would be friends forever.

They were all too weird not to be.

* * *

**THE END**

* * *

**A/N: **Wow, I honestly can't believe that this is the end. I mean, I know that it was going to happen eventually, but I didn't think it was going to come this soon. This chapter was originally going to be the epilogue, but then I decided to make it the last chapter, because the way that I styled this, it didn't need an epilogue.

I can't believe that it's been over a year when I started Big Time Rivalry. I was only planning on making Big Time Rivalry a stand-alone story, but then I saw how much you guys liked it and started to work on Don't Stop Believing. Realizing that my stories I had generated more towards everyone's friendships with each other, I decided to title the series as With Friends Like These off of the phrase 'With Friends Like These, Who Needs Enemies', but of course they aren't enemies with each other so of course I cut it short. But then I had an idea for the third story and decided to go along with the title I originally had for the second story and went along with 'With Friends Like These III: Here and Now' and that's where this story came in.

Thanks tofor reviewing the last chapter as well as to those of you that have stuck with me through this whole series.

**DarkElement-Jackson-Fan: **Cody! You're the best dude that I have ever known and even though we don't get to see each other a lot, I know that you are always going to support us for whatever story we put up or think of. You're awesome!

**MysticMelody101: **It seems to me that we have another DarkElement fan in our midst. Hahaha. Thanks for all of your support and for the ideas that you have given me as well. Thank you for reviewing each and every chapter. Your support was really helpful and I'm glad that you like our characters so much. You're an equally good writer and I can't wait to see what else you have up your sleeve.

**Bballgirl22: **Every IM, PM, or e-mail conversation that we have had has always helped me through my writer's block and whatever problems that I have had with this series. Bouncing ideas off of you has been very helpful as well as enjoyable. You're such a huge fan of our characters that I wonder what would happen if they were real and you were able to meet them. Hahaha! Thank for your support as well, you're such a great friend and a great driving force behind our updates as well.

**Rage-Against-Time: **Your reviews have helped spur on this story as well. You're also a big part of our fans and we can't thank you enough for it. The ideas and comments that you have given are greatly appreciated and very helpful.

**Lella-Kiley-Lvr, Logie-Luvr914, aploveskendall, youspinmelikearecord, and all other anonymous accounts: **Thanks so much for all of your reviews! I'm glad that you liked our pairing ideas so much, it just made me want to write scenes of them especially for you guys. You really rooted for my characters when you wanted their dad gone, and you also rooted for their relationships as well as not giving us flack if they didn't go the way you wanted them to. Thank you so much.

**Mandamichelle: **The James Lover! Honestly, if I didn't love Kendall so much, I would totally be in love with James. Your plot ideas for James really helped me with this story as I was kind of stuck for him so that was really helpful. Your wacky ideas made me smile and laugh and although most of them I couldn't use, I'm glad that you could help me with it.

(**If there's anyone I forgot, let me know and I'll add you to the list).**

I really have to thank every single one of you guys who reviewed **WFLT I, II, and III** or even just read it without reviewing- you guys are the best! When I started writing it (out of my complete obsession with BTR when the news about them started to break out, back in 2009 I think), I thought I wouldn't get any reviews and I came close to just scrapping it. But I got like 12 reviews for the first chapter and then I had to think hard about what the story was actually gonna be about even though I had a basic idea. That's what makes me happy! And for everyone who's added** WFLT I, II, **or, **III**, to their favorites and alerts, thanks so much! So I'll leave you this last chapter, I hope you liked it and here's hoping you'll read some more of my stories.

**Cheers**

**-Riley**

I had originally planned to write a sequel to this, to make the series have four stories, but then I decided that it would be some-what of an overkill. So, soon, I'm going to start a new series with the Jacksons and the idea that I had will be a sequel to that. If you have an other ideas either put them in our formspring, put them up on our website (a blog post will be made for this soon) or just PM it to us, if we use it, we'll definitely give you credit.

**UPDATE: Go to our website for the DarkElements and go to the new blog and look at the stories that are coming up and let us know what stories you would most like to see from us next. Here's the link: http:/ .com /apps/blog/show /7304376-new-story-ideas-  
**


	41. An Important Question

**An Important Question**

* * *

As you all know, I finished this story back in June, planning it to be the last story in a trilogy. But after about three months of thinking, I have a few ideas of what a fourth (and FINAL) story of this series could be. Of course I can't tell you guys that yet, but I do have a few questions for you all. SHOULD I put up a fourth story or just make my new idea for a new series? I already have an idea of a series that's centered around time (The first being called Clock Runs Out and the sequel to that being called Out of Time). But I thought that there was still a lot of ways that I could go to finally end this story and I know that a lot of people would like me to write at least one more story in this series. So what do you guys think? Should I leave it the way it is or add one more?

**KEEP LOOKING BACK HERE FOR MY FINAL DECISION ON THE MATTER!**

Cheers,

-Riles


	42. An Important Announcement

**An Important Announcement**

* * *

As you all know, I asked if you guys would like to see another installment to this series. I got alot of feedback for it and it came down to a half and half. I really struggled with my decision for this for a long time and I've finally come up with one. It's not as sequel exactly, and it's not really another installment, but it's a story that can be said that it's been done after **WFLT III: Here and Now.**

So I now have the pleasure to inform you that such story is up. Yes, I have kinda/sorta put up another installment to this series. It's only ten chapters long and it's a predominately happy story, but I think that you guys will like it anyway. It's up now and it's called **Life Goes On**. So go check it out and tell me what you guys thinks about it.

Thanks for supporting me through all of this. I hope you continue to do so for my future and current stories.

Cheers,

-Riles


	43. Another Important Announcement

**Another Important Announcement**

* * *

Ok, so this should be the last chapter added to this story, now that it is officially over, but I have some good news for you. After re-reading these three stories in the **WFLT Trilogy** I realized how much I missed it. I missed writing my characters meeting BTR and having their story told from the very beginning. I guess I was feeling a bit of nostalgia since I started writing it after the series first debuted. Anyway, after looking the story over and seeing how there had been a lot of things I put in there that didn't make sense, or wasn't finished, I decided to go ahead and do a re-write.

Yes, you read right, I'm re-writing teh series.

In fact, it's up now and it's called **Its The Rush That You Get**. There's only 3 chapters so far, but it's a re-write through all three stories of my series. I don't know if it will all be under one story, or if I will split it up into three parts. The re-write will have a lot of scenes from the original stories as well as added ones, so I know that you'll enjoy it. So go check it out and tell me what you guys thinks about it.

Also, I have a new story up that's, I guess, somewhat like a side-story/companion story to the **WFLT **trilogy called **Darkness Of My Past**that's up as well. It's showing some of the background of the Jacksons that I hadn't shown before, as well as they're keeping another secret. Here's the summary for that fic: "There are two ways to go about having a secret; confide in someone you trust or keep your mouth shut. Guess which option I chose." A past that was kept hidden is coming back full force. SEX/ABUSE/LANGUAGE/VIOLENCE/ACTION Kendall/OC Logan/OC.

So, are you intersted...? Then go check them both out!

Thanks for supporting me through all of this. I hope you continue to do so for my future and current stories.

Cheers,

-Riles


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